


Everything Is Not What It Seems

by TheSunsShadow



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-05-05 11:39:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 41,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5373941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSunsShadow/pseuds/TheSunsShadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico, the son of Hades and Maria di Angelo, attends ICDAT (International College of Drama, Art and Technology). His father, being a trillionaire, gives him the best of the best. But when he goes to his new school - appearing in the public's eye for the very first time - other problems arise. Namely Percy Jackson, the son of a billionaire... Don't like? Don't read.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Encounter

Percy really hated Private schools. He had never thought that he would dislike his second year at The International College of Drama, Art and Technology – or as most referred to it, ICDAT ( **A/N:** pronounced, 'i-see-dat') – sure he'd turned sixteen and really wanted to make something of himself, except that he was already a billionaire anyway. His father, Poseidon, was the owner of the most successful hotel chain in the world, Lotus Hotel and Resort. His mom, Sally, was a formidable artist, sculptor and romance novelist. Guess she decided to write based on the fact that she and Percy's dad met rather romantically. Anyway, he groaned as his alarm went off. He sat up, looking at himself in the mirror directly across his circular king-sized bed. It was draped by a translucent blue curtain and was laced with blue comforters and white silk sheets. He looked rather pleased at his physique since he was absolutely muscular, but not too muscular, had a beautiful tan with piercing sea-green eyes. His black hair was slightly disheveled but he still managed to look good, nevertheless.

He got off his bed, dressed in his underwear and gathered his stuff from his walk in closet. He had a shower in his suite, but saying it was a shower was the understatement of the century. When you walk in, there is a Jacuzzi right in the center of the room and above it, hung an elegant shower head about the half the size of his bed. He showered, picked out a blue tank top and pure black jeans. He set his hair, however in vain, since it remained slightly tousled. He walked pass multiple rooms through his hallway until he exited and was greeted an even wider hallway just before every door was a beautiful sculpture – made from different materials ranging from gold to jade – and the floor was draped with a beautiful Persian rug. He passed a pair of large cream double-door with golden-handled doors. The door were intricately designed along the edges with fine gold line. However, he knew better than to waltz into the master bedroom uninvited. He walked a little more until he reached and enormous staircase with black handles. He quickly raced down the stairs and walked behind them. He was greeted by the usual, a huge set of solid oak double-doors and at each door, was a vase with fresh flowers. He picked out an orchid and pushed pass the doors.

He was greeted by an enormous room with rather large windows overlooking the early New York City horizon as the sun lazily made its way over the already brightening city. There was a huge crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and the dining table was almost as large as the room. A fireplace crackled in the center of the room shedding light and radiating warmth. His mother sat end of the table. Her hair lazily pulled into a bun and strands of brown falling over her face. Her warm brown eyes looked up and brightened at the sight of her son.

"Good morning, Percy, dear." Sally greeted. She was rather busy reading the newspaper and sipping some coffee while the maids, chefs and butlers were scurrying all over the place preparing breakfast. Though, she waiting for Percy to greet her before she resumed her previous task.

"Morning, mom," Percy beamed as he handed her the orchid. She gave another warm smile before she returned to her newspaper. The set of double-doors leading to the immaculate kitchen as many of their staff walked in with a lot of food for breakfast. Trays of food everywhere. Dishes such as eggs, bacon, and also a lot of fruits. Multiple cereals and loads of toasted bread were placed elegantly and gracefully on the tables. There was even more food, however, Percy didn't care that much for food in the morning. He grabbed two slices of toast and began buttering them. He began sipping some coffee after taking a bite of toast.

Poseidon walked in. the man had startling green eyes and jet black hair. His face was regal and he scrunched is nose a bit while speaking to someone over his cellphone.

"No, she's not allowed as a customer at our American branch because of what happened  _last time_!" Poseidon practically bellowed, his voice ringing out throughout the entire suite. He cut the call, as a girl walked behind him – Racheal – and was taking down notes, handing Poseidon some files. Poseidon walked up to Percy, ruffled the boy's hair and then walked up to his wife briefly kissing her on the cheek.

"Morning," he said. "I won't be able to stay for breakfast. I have to go to the main branch in Las Vegas to attend to some business." He smiled warmly at his wife and son.

"Oh, sure thing, honey." Sally said, looking up from her newspaper.

"No prob, dad," Percy said. He really didn't mind, though, that would mean that he really wouldn't spend time with his dad. He sighed. Poseidon walked up to him and placed a firm hand on Percy's shoulder.

"Yeah, I know, kiddo. But, after your school classes, I'm meeting a new business associate. He has a son a little younger than you. So, perhaps you two could become friends?" Poseidon asked.

"That's great!" Percy beamed. He loved making new friends. Percy stole a glance at his smartphone and quickly jumped up. He was going to get late for school.

"Bye mom, by dad!" Percy jogged out of the double-doors, hearing his parents call goodbye after him. He quickly ran to his study – which was in the private living room – grabbed his backpack and bolted to the elevator that would help him leave. He pressed the call button and when the elevator dinged open, he hurried in and decided to go to the lobby. When the doors dinged open again, he was warmly greeted by the staff currently working in the lobby. He called for Leo, the only worker he trusted enough with his car.

"Morning, sir!" Leo beamed.

"I told you not to call me that," Percy huffed.

"Oh, alright. Do you want your car?" Leo asked.

"Yep, stuck with school for another semester." Percy sighed.

"Oh, cool. Be right back with your baby," Leo called as he walked to the elevator.

While Percy waited, he decided to greet the receptionist so that he could just check out the news.

"Morning, Nyssa," Percy said. She had lovely short, dark hair and chocolate brown eyes. Her complexion was slightly tanned.

"Morning, Percy," she perked up from her computer, with a smile, "Always a pleasure," she said.

"Same here," Percy said. He looked at the flat-screen television screen suspended just behind the dark haired girl. There was reporter on, with some rather fresh news. She had curly blond hair and spoke into the mic.

"Yes, Chuck. It seems as though the di Angelo family have finally decided to put their son into a surrounding school…" Percy had heard of the di Angelo family. They were absolutely wealthy. Even more wealthy than his family. Mr. di Angelo – mostly known as Hades – was the owner of Precious Metals Mining and Partners. He also had shares in Percy's dad's hotel and ran even more businesses. His wife, Maria di Angelo was currently the most famous actress in the world and also a supermodel. She was also a very popular talk show hostess. His children, Bianca di Angelo was a very successful musician, singer and teen actress, she worked for Warner Bros Entertainment and Nickelodeon. Lastly, there was his son. No one knew much about him, since his parents concealed him the most. It was not that he was a terrible son or anything. He just didn't want people going crazy over him or begging for an autograph or so he heard from his friend, Piper McLean. The voice of the reporter jerked him from his thoughts.

"… and we can't wait to finally meet him. His name is Nico. However, we are yet to find out what the young man looks like. We don't even know his age since this is the first time he'll actually be appearing in public. We do hope to eat him up as we did with his family. Rumor has it that he might be going to Hollywood Arts or even a Private school. Wherever it is, we have reporters stationed at every private American school possible. This has been Jenna Garner reporting live from The International College of Drama, Art and Technology for Glamor News America. Back to you at the station, Chuck,"

 _So, people actually think it's going to be at our school,_ Percy thought. He chuckled to himself. He would really like to meet this infamous Nico di Angelo. Just then, Leo honked for Percy, cursing in Spanish because Percy took forever. Percy said goodbye to Nyssa and shouldered his backpack.

"What's up with you, Percy?" the Latino asked, rather irritated.

"Oh, nothing. Just that a di Angelo might be attending our school," Percy said. Leo's jaw dropped and Percy chuckled, handing him a twenty as a tip. Percy looked at his car once more. He loved the sleek design. It was a Jaguar and was the shade midnight blue and one of the latest models – like a two-door sports car. Percy got in and drove out of the parking lane into the wide street. He stopped occasionally at a streetlight of two and zoomed out of the city away from his dad's hotel – which happened to be a hundred floors high. He finally came up to his school – which was hidden by the trees since it was a rather private school. The student parking was a couple yards away from school since there were a lot of rich students in this school. The parking lot was covered by trees and was very neatly painted, specifying the space for each car. Percy pulled up in the space that was closest to the school's walkway. As he got out, he was greeted by a bear hug from a boy with blonde hair and electric blue eyes.

"Yes, it's good to see you too, Jason," Percy said, thought his lungs were being crushed.

"Percy! It's been a while," the blonde said.

"Yeah, I know. I enjoyed Berlin over the vacation. It was a great experience." Percy said.

"Pick up any hotties?" Jason asked. Percy smirked devilishly and Jason chuckled, seemingly understanding the message. And then, came another bear hug. This time from a girl, a little shorter than both Jason and Percy. She had the same electric blue eyes that resembled lightning and had hair as black as night.

"Hey, Thalia," Percy said. This seemed to anger her since she smacked Percy upside the head.

"Ow!" Percy whined.

"You, idiot!" she bellowed. "You go off on a vacation and forget your friends? Not even a text or a call!" then she smirked and just stood next to Jason, her brother. Next Percy was greeted by an entire lot of his friends. The Stoll twins, Travis and Connor. Both had brown hair and blue eyes. Then, came Calypso Ogygia, Piper McLean, Will Solace, Reyna, – Percy still had to learn her last name off – Annabeth Chase, Silena Beauregard, Charles Beckendorf – her boyfriend – Luke Castellan, Frank Zhang, Hazel Lavesque and Lou Ellen. Well, roughly. These were Percy's best friends since Kindergarten. He enjoyed their company, always. They were all talking, catching up when the bell rang and everyone made their way into the school. It had a set of oak double-door entrance but had an elegant look to it. The building in front was white. Well, the building that housed the lockers. Most of the students weren't required to attend the first day in school uniform since no one really cared anyway.

As the group decided to move from their spot they had forgotten that they were being protected by several bodyguards since the press and media were there. Probably waiting to see if the di Angelo kid was going to attend ICDAT and also because they were the kids of famous, filthy rich people. They were snapping shots of the group while they were talking. But, the group had finally decided to get inside the building where they would go to the school hall to be addressed by the dean of the college – Mr. D. – and most of them took their seats.

Just then, a really, really, long limousine pulled up and veered to park at the main driveway. The media went crazy as the lunged forward in a wave of snapshots and shrieking. The reporter from earlier, some Garner, began rolling with her cameraman. There was a slight pause as the door opened and out walked a very muscular man that was two times the size of Percy. Everyone in the hall rushed out despite Mr. D's protest. They began shrieking, pointing and going crazy. It was funny since barely the entire Student Body was here today. Perhaps a quarter of the actual school population. The guy was dressed in a black Italian suit and had black leather shoes on. He blocked the open door so no one could see inside. He had dirty blonde hair. The driver got out was also very muscular and wore a navy blue suit. The first guy that got out of the car slammed the door shut and waited for the driver to join him. Together, they stood in front of the dark, tinted window blocking the person inside from the media's view.

The window rolled down, but the driver and the other guy made sure to block the passenger out of view. There was a brief conversation between the first guy and the passenger and the window rolled up. The first guy opened the door, very slowly, making sure no one tried to do anything to the passenger. The driver signaled the school's bodyguards to assist them. They came and parted the media crowd and made sure there was a firm line on either side. Two legs attired in biker jeans so black and tight, that Percy's jeans looked white. The passenger had on wicked black sneakers. Before he stepped out, though, the door on the other side of the limousine opened and out rushed woman who looked to be in her twenties. She had a stern look on her face and stormy gray eyes and blonde curls fell gracefully off her head. She had a tablet in her hand checking a few things. She leaned the slightly opened and seemed be conversing with the mysterious passenger. Percy tried to remember something about this in the news, but was too irritated by everyone squealing or yelling. The woman stepped back and straightened out. She held out a hand for the passenger. Everyone gasped collectively as a slender, pale olive-skinned hand took it.

There was silence. The passenger got up and slipped on a sunglasses. He seemed bored. He had fairly long hair, a little longer than Percy's and had a nice slender body. He had on a designer black tee with a white skull that took up most of the front of the shirt. It was designer wear, though. There was an immediate uproar of flashes and questions. There was a lot of squealing coming from the girls mesmerized by the boy's cuteness, apparently. He didn't even flinch when someone from one of the crowd tried to jump at him. They met the first guy's firm chest. And was grabbed by the scruff of their neck and tossed away like a rag doll. The driver and the other guy started forward as the school bodyguards struggled against the crowd. The boy seemed to hate the noise and decided to walk a little faster. His cheeks were graced with a small blush when someone asked who he was dating but disappeared as quickly when the boy's eyes wandered over to the school. He looked over everyone staring at him briefly. His eyes paused as the girls broke into fits of giggles and some guys winked seductively. He looked bored after that. His eyes stopped momentarily on Percy. Everyone's head snapped to face what the young boy was looking at. The boy got bored again and began walking. He pulled out his phone and started texting someone. He walked up the stairs leading to the doors of the school. He was momentarily stopped when everyone was asked to file back into the school hall. Everyone stared at him while the uproar died away when everyone entered building. The boy stopped in front again and the two guys that came with him opened the doors for him. Chiron, the activities director of the school motioned for the school club leaders and President of the Student Body to join them in welcoming the new boy.

Percy was head of the swimming club and also Vice President of the Student Body. So, naturally he joined Annabeth – President of the Student Body – and the rest of the group filed in. So, basically, it was the group that greeted Percy that morning. When they were ready, the boy finally entered the school with both of the guys that were with him in the limousine. The boy placed his shades above his head. He had bangs and had a black backpack shouldered. He gave a small smile to everyone in the room.

"Well, children," Chiron began, "This is our latest addition to the Student Body. As most of you may know–" But Chiron was cut off by a high pitched squeal that escaped Piper's lips. The boy seemed startled but gave another small smile. Chiron chuckled and Mr. D just grunted.

"As I was saying, this is our latest to the student body. Care to introduce yourself, young man?" Chiron asked politely, motioning for the boy to speak. He smiled brightly, or tried to.

"Hi," he said.  _He has a really cute voice and accent,_  Percy thought. He chuckled inwardly at this. "I'm Nico di Angelo, and I hope to enjoy my time here," he finished. Everyone broke out into huge grins, well Luke being the grumpy old troll he is, surprisingly smiled, though Nico didn't seem to take any notice of this. Everyone surged forward but were stopped abruptly by the guy with dirty blonde hair.

"It's fine, Charon," Nico said. Most of the kids thought he said Chiron but realized he didn't. He turned to his driver and smiled a small smile again. "You too, Argus. See you guys after school." They both acknowledged Nico and eyed everyone in the room suspiciously. They walked out, closing the doors behind them. Again, everyone, except Luke, went forward and introduced themselves. Percy went after Annabeth.

"Hey, there," Percy said. He shook Nico's hand. "I'm Percy. Welcome to ICDAT," Percy flashed the shorter boy a grin.

"Thanks," he said. Then, the most shocking was Luke. He walked rather quickly towards Nico and stopped abruptly in front of Nico, his smile unwavering. Nico smiled back brightly and stuck out his hand but Luke pulled the boy into his embrace and hugged him. Piper and Thalia pouted but Annabeth shrugged and Percy just chuckled. It was rather strange to see Luke so cheery and full of smiles.

"Hello to you to, Luke," Nico said into the boys shoulder. Luke drew back, a little stunned but smiled.

"Thought you weren't coming, Nico," Luke said with another small smile. Nico scoffed.

"Yeah, right. I'm tired of private tutors and weirdos in the mansion. Really it's sickening,"

"I should know," Luke said, "Say, would you like a tour of the school?" Luke asked so eagerly that everyone in the rooms nearly jumped out of their skin.

"That'd be great, Luke," Nico smiled. He began to go speak to Chiron and Mr. D and they both gave smiles of understanding. Chiron handed Nico his schedule and Luke couldn't seem more impatient. Nico barely had the time to put his stuff into his locker because Luke yanked Nico by the wrist and they began to exit the administration building. Everyone looked at Chiron and Mr. D with stunned looks, even Annabeth!

"What was that about?" Thalia grumbled.

"Yeah, how come we didn't get a hug?" Piper added angrily. Chiron cleared his throat and Mr. D began to walk to his office.

"Why, I thought you would've known," Chiron began, "Luke is Nico's closest cousin,"

"What?!" Piper squawked.

The room eventually erupted into yelling and chaos and well Percy just rolled his eyes. He was kind of mesmerized by the fact that Luke was so happy all of a sudden.  _Hooray for the new kid!_  Percy thought. He chuckled inwardly at this and took his leave. He had Calculus first period.  _I hate Mrs. Dodds,_ Percy thought.


	2. First School Day

Percy sat lazily in his seat during Calculus class. Mrs. Dodds went on about Trigonometry, as if he actually cared. All of his friends were in the same classes as he was and he was seated behind Annabeth. She was listening rather intently to what Mrs. Dodds was saying while no one else really was.

"So, as I was saying, the hypotenuse is of the triangle is the–" she stopped and Percy turned his head to the entrance of the classroom to see what had happened. Luke walked in, with an arm slung lazily draped on Nico's shoulder.

"So, Nico, since you have Calculus now, guess I could have walked you class," Luke said happily.

"Thanks Luke," Nico said. Mrs. Dodds cleared her throat and made Nico stare at her. Everyone thought she was going to really give him a lecture about respecting school times. Surprisingly, she didn't even squeak. She smiled.

"Welcome to your Calculus class, Nico," Mrs. Dodds said. Nico smiled another small smile.

"Thanks, Mrs. Dodds," Nico said. Luke seemed stunned.

"Nico, you know her?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, she was my Math tutor for three years or so," came Nico's reply. Mrs. Dodds smiled.

"May I take a seat up front, Mrs. Dodds?" Nico asked.

"Sure, Nico. Sit in front of Annabeth. And please dear, no such formalities. I'm not that old!" she said too happily. Well, it just made Percy shiver. Nico took his eat in front of Annabeth and shot her a smile. Annabeth giggled a bit but said nothing.

"Um, Mrs. Dodds, are cellphones allowed in class? You know of our busy schedules already and I've already missed several calls. Perhaps if I put it on vibrate and just left it on my table in case someone tries to call?" Nico just asked out of the blue. The question shocked everyone, except Mrs. Dodds.

"Sure, dear. Don't worry. I'll just let the rest the teachers know during your break," she smiled knowingly. Honestly, Percy nearly fell out of his chair when Mrs. Dodds approved. Annabeth just giggled when Percy gave a stunned stare, his mouth agape.

Nico took out his smartphone and set it on the edge of the table he sat at. He took out his textbook, workbook and notebook. He opened them to the required pages, gave Mrs. Dodds an appreciative smile and Luke a small wave. Luke smiled in return and the blond walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He set his phone on vibrate and waited for Mrs. Dodds to continue.

"Right then. As I was saying, the hypotenuse is the longest side of a right-angled triangle…" and that's when Percy zoned out, staring out the window of the classroom.  _It's going to be a long day,_ he thought.

* * *

 

It was break around midday and Percy decided to walk through the long endless hallways, out of the admin block and classroom building, to the outdoor cafeteria. It was huge since it could house well over a thousand spoiled brats. Percy was quickly flagged down by Jason and forced to sit at their table.

"Hey, guys," Percy greeted. He set down his food on the table. He had a healthy meal today. A ham and turkey sandwich with lettuce and mayo. He loved brown bread. And for drinks, a healthy box of orange juice and for dessert, yoghurt. Well, this was what he brought from home. The cafeteria only served food to those who wanted it since almost everyone brought their own food. Everyone from the group in the morning sat at the table. Luke sat next to Percy and made small talk with him. The Stoll twins sat with Beckendorf and also spoke about some things. Annabeth sat with Piper, Thalia, Silena and Calypso abut whatever it is girls talk about. Percy had also assumed a bored look on his face. Then, a thought crossed Percy's mind. He stared at Luke's cold blue eyes for a moment.

"What?" he practically growled.

"Well," Percy began, "I was wondering how you knew Nico so well," Luke smirked.

"He's my cousin, Percy. His dad is my uncle. I've known him since I was two. Well, when he was just a year old," Luke smiled at this, then went back to his angry appearance. Percy chuckled

"Why?" he asked.

"Oh, just curious," came the reply. They sat for a while more before Nico walked in. he had a little brown paper bag in his hand and walked over to the cafeteria to get a platter to set whatever food he had on. He smiled at the lunch lady and walked away. He was about to sit alone when Piper and Thalia waved at him motioned for him to come over. He smiled and obliged. Luke instantly perked up. Piper slung an arm around his shoulder and guided him to sit between Percy and Luke.

"Oh, no, I–I don't need to sit there." He said. Percy felt kind of hurt but let it slide. He was the new kid after all.

"Nonsense. Luke couldn't be happier and I doubt Percy has a problem," she said.

"Nope, not a prob," Percy said, his sea-green eyes flickering over to watch Nico slide between him and Luke. He set his platter on the table and opened the bag. He set out just a bunch of seedless red grapes and a small bottle of water. It stunned everyone, even Percy, except for Luke. He grunted and rolled his eyes.

"Still don't eat much," Luke observed.

"Yeah," Nico said while plucking a grape and biting off a small piece and slowly began chewing. "Just not up for eating," Luke seemed irritated.

"You do realize that your dad will probably kill us both if you don't eat, Nico," Luke said.

"Luke, please. He knows about it. Now, stop questioning me, Mother," Nico said as he poked his tongue out at Luke. Luke just rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, Nico. Don't be the odd one out," Luke pleaded. Everyone was very intrigued by this new Luke and his behavior toward Nico. Sort of like a bigger brother.

"How about I try and finish what I brought for lunch today and then I'll have a little more, okay?" Nico rested his hand on Luke's shoulder. Everyone held their breath waiting for the blond to lash out at Nico or push him away. Shockingly, that didn't happen. Luke just nodded, gave a small smile to Nico and went back to eating. Percy decided to join the conversation, now.

"So, Nico," Percy said. Nico turned to face him. "How do you like ICDAT so far?"

"Well, I like the library. Especially the Greek section," Annabeth perked up and smiled at Nico, "The Sports Center is quite interesting and academia is … refreshing since I already know most of the teachers here. Most of them tutored me before," he finished.

"That's cool," Percy said as he earned a smile from Nico, "but what do you do for fun?"

"Well, it's only been my first day here, so no fun really," Nico said, "Although, I enjoy swimming and volley ball,"

"Awesome," Percy said. Nico smiled another small smile and concentrated on eating, well, the first grape that he began eating was still uneaten. Luke looked over at Nico and groaned.

"Nico, you should finish your fruit," Luke said sternly. That was the first time he actually spoke formally to Nico.

"Okay," Nico said. Luke relieved as Nico carried on and finished the small bunch of grapes he had.

"Now," Luke said, "would you like a sandwich or a frozen yoghurt? Or should I order McDonalds?" Nico scowled and then sighed since there was no getting out of it.

"Fine, be that way, Luke. I'll have a frozen yoghurt," Nico grumbled. "You're such an annoying cousin,"

"You'll thank me when you don't collapse from hunger," Luke retorted. Percy smirked.

"You can have mine," Percy said, "I have two, so, I don't mind sharing," Nico seemed baffled for a second but then a blush touched his cheeks.

"Th–Thanks," he said as he accepted Percy's frozen yoghurt,

"Sure thing, Nico," Percy said as he offered a dazzling smile. Luke grunted and Nico just rolled his eyes.

"Luke, I'm sure that Percy didn't do anything to the yoghurt," Nico said.

"Yeah, Luke, I wouldn't do anything to hurt Nico here," Percy said as he slung an arm around Nico's shoulders. Was it Percy's imagination or did Nico blush a little? Luke just grunted but smiled when Nico touched his shoulder and gave him a smile. Percy was rather amused by Luke's behavior toward Nico so he propped his elbow on the table and set his chin on his palm and stared intently with his sea-green eyes at both Nico and Luke. Nico blushed a little from the attention but as soon as it appeared, it disappeared. Now, everyone gave Nico their numbers – even Annabeth, a little too excited – and Nico couldn't seem happier. And Nico blushed furiously when Percy gave Nico his number.

* * *

 

For Percy, the end of the day couldn't arrive any faster. He was simply tired and hated school. He needed another vacation. He sighed as he walked to the parking lot and a few reporters snapped a picture of him. The crowd from the morning had grown even more and more school security guards were needed to keep them in check. They were probably here for a glimpse of Nico, no doubt. Nico's limousine pulled up at the entrance of the driveway. Out walked Charon and Argus. Argus opened the door for the woman with blonde hair and gray eyes and she zipped pass the crowd to the double-doors. They swung open to reveal Nico walking with Luke and Piper. The crowd decided to go completely crazy at this point and most of them tried to get pass the security guards. Argus and Charon rushed forward to Nico and stood in front of him while the blonde woman wove arm together with Nico's. Luke smiled at the woman and she did the same.

They walked together to the limousine until Nico stopped and offered Percy a small wave. Percy smirked back and the media snapped an entire lot of pictures before Nico was dragged away by Luke and the blonde woman, while Charon and Argus followed closely behind. Nico got in, followed by Luke and the blonde woman and Argus closed the door for him. They drove off quickly and as soon as Percy got to his car, he was surrounded by a swarm of reporters asking whether he knew Nico well or whether they were good friends. _You should be asking Luke,_  Percy thought. Percy didn't say a word and got into his and drove off to his hotel. He stopped and handed over the keys to Leo. He pushed pass the doors, waved at Nyssa and took the elevator to his family's suite. When he walked in, he was greeted by Rachel. She had red, frizzy hair and green eyes. Freckles splayed lightly across her face

"Hi, Percy," she said, "How was school? Heard that a di Angelo kid is attending ICDAT now,"

"Hey, Rachel," Percy said, tossing a smile, "Yeah, his name's Nico. Nice kid, he's in most of my classes," Percy began to go to the dining room so he could get a snack but was stopped abruptly when his mom walked down the staircase elegantly in a designer blue dress and some heels. Her hair was curled and fell gracefully onto her shoulders.

"Mom, you look great!" Percy said.

"Thanks, Percy, dear," she said greeting him with a hug, "How was school? A di Angelo is attending your school must be nice,"

"Well, yeah. His name is Nico. He's really nice. Honestly, we thought he'd be stuck up or something. Well, most of the students at our school are, just expected him to be more than everyone else. He isn't, though. He's quite nice, not that sociable, though," Percy said.

"Well, that's nice, Percy. Get your homework done and freshen up. Your father will be here in an hour and he wants you to spend some time with his client's son," Sally finished.

"Yeah, sure, mom," Percy replied, "Hey, what will we be doing?"

"Oh, you're going to go to the park. Just a stroll or drive with two golf carts. Nothing fancy. Your father just wanted to keep it casual. Well, see you in a bit, Percy. I'm going to an art exhibit. See you at dinner, love," with that. Sally left the suite.

Percy hurried to his room. He quickly ran into the shower and tried to set his hair. He got out, toweling his hair and went to his walk in closet. He picked out some black sneakers with neon designs on them, black skinny jeans and a sky blue tank top. He got down to the kitchen and grabbed some fruit, and went to his study to complete some homework. His father walked into the suite and knocked on Percy's study.

"Percy, give me twenty minutes and then we can leave!" Poseidon called.

"Sure, dad!" Percy called back. And, to Poseidon's word, twenty minutes later, he yanked Percy from his study, to the elevator and to his car. Poseidon had a Jaguar as well. However, it was pure black and ran smoothly compared to Percy's. They got in, and drove all the way to the closest entrance to Central Park. Poseidon got out, dressed in khaki shorts and a blue button down short-sleeved shirt. The area they entered had two golf carts waiting for them and was blocked off by multiple security guards. Poseidon went to sit at a bench and Percy followed. Percy was bored, so he decided to text one of his friends. Annabeth? Probably doing homework. Luke? Probably asleep. Thalia? Probably practicing archery. Jason? Basketball practice. Out of nowhere, Nico's name popped up. Percy decided to go with Nico.

'Hey, Nico.' Percy texted. Within 10 seconds, there was reply.

'Hi, Percy. What's up? I'm going to see someone with my dad' Nico texted back.

'Oh? That's nice. My dad's seeing a business client, so, he asked me to tag along.' Percy hit send.

'That's nice. I have to go now, we're pulling over to meet the person my dad's going to see. Bye.' Nico texted. Percy was a bit disappointed but didn't say such things.

'Okay. See you in school tomorrow. ' Percy hit send again. As soon as the text was read, a really, really long limousine pulled over and out got a slightly muscular man with familiar pale olive skin and eyes that almost looked black. He wore a black tee that hugged his torso, just not as tightly as Percy's, and a wicked black jeans and crocodile leather shoe. He walked up to Poseidon, though Percy didn't pay attention until Poseidon called his name.

"Percy?" Poseidon called.

"Hmm? Oh, hi, I'm Percy." he said as he took the man's hand.

"Well, hello," he said coolly, "I'm Mr. di Angelo, but everyone calls me Hades," Percy nearly choked.

"You're Nico's dad?" he asked.

"Why, yes. May I ask, why do  _you_  ask?" Hades asked.

"Oh, he's attending our school now," Percy said.

"ICDAT? How nice," Hades said. Just then, familiar voice called form behind Hades.

"Percy?" Nico called. Percy looked around Hades and practically beamed from ear to ear.

"Hi, Nico! How oblivious were we?" Percy asked.

"Very," Nico said, "Where will we be riding?" Percy motioned the empty golf carts and Nico quickly greeted Poseidon with a forced smile – why a  _forced_  smile? – And then sat in the second golf cart.

"Go on, Percy. You can join Nico," Poseidon said.

"Sure thing, dad," Percy said. He jogged over to the golf cart and quickly found the keys. But before he could start the cart, he noticed that Nico was frowning. He rested his hand on Nico's shoulder and the boy nearly jumped out of skin. However, when he saw that it was Percy, he blushed and Percy smirked.

"Hey, Nico? Why so sad?" Percy asked.

"Oh, I'm just tired. Nothing to worry about," Nico said. Percy was not convinced.

"You know, for the son of the most famous actress in the world and brother to the most famous teen actress in the world, you suck at lying," Percy said as he smirked. Nico sighed, wrapped his arms around his knees, and placed chin on his them.

"I have to stay at your dad's hotel if I want to go to ICDAT. I want to, but I don't want to be so far from home. That's why my dad's here today, partially of course," he sighed again, sadly.

"Oh, come Nico, do you hate me that much?" Percy asked. Nico was immediately stunned.

"WH-what? No! Of course not, I just … I like my home in Beverly Hills and I don't really like New York that much," Percy smirked.

"Well," Percy said, leaning in, "I could show you around, spend some time with you. My family lives in the penthouse suite so, you won't be alone or anything," Nico blushed a bit.

"Um, that's great, and all. It would be nice, but … never mind, it would be great," he said, while brushing his hair behind his ear. Percy started the golf cart and strolled behind Hades and Poseidon who were talking.

"So, do you like our school? Is it to your liking, or just too bland?" Percy asked, smirking. Nico rolled his eyes.

"It's fine. But I'm sure if my sister had to attend, she would hate it," Nico said, chuckling lightly. Percy also chuckled.

"So," Percy began, "Do you have a certain special someone in your life?" Nico blushed a bit.  _Cute,_  Percy thought.

"Well, no, but I'd like to," was Nico's response. "You?"

"Well, Annabeth. But, no one else after we ended it," Percy said. Nico just nodded, not pushing the matter further. Another hour of driving around, Poseidon and Hades had come to an agreement.

"So, then, Poseidon," Hades began as they got out of the golf cart, "He'll stay with you in your suite until the end of the semester. And, we'll see how he likes it at ICDAT and make other arrangements,"

"That's correct," Poseidon said, "I hope he enjoys his stay. He has Percy to help him out as well," Hades nodded and walked off to his limousine. He spoke to Charon. Charon moved to get out a couple of bags from the limo.

"Just put them into my boot," Poseidon said, unlocking his car and popping the boot open. Percy gave Poseidon a curious look and turned to Nico for answers – who immediately blushed.

"Yeah, it seems like I'll be staying at your hotel after all," Nico said. Percy beamed.

"That's great! We could do a lot and have a lot of fun," Percy said.

"Yes, well, he needs to complete all tasks and other school-related projects," Hades said.

"Don't worry, Mr. di Angelo," Percy said, "I'll help him out,"

"Very well," Hades said, "Goodbye Nico, enjoy your stay and do behave,"

Hades got into the car, followed by Charon and Argus closed the door.

"See ya around, kid!" He said as he got into the car and drove off. Poseidon turned to face Nico and gave him a small smile.

"I trust you don't have any problems concerning your living arrangements?" Poseidon asked.

"No, sir," Nico said. Poseidon smiled.

"No need for formalities, Nico," Poseidon said. Nico gave a nod as he got into the back of the car. Percy rode shotgun. Nico couldn't wait to see the hotel because he seemed so eager to Percy. When they got there, Nico's eyes went wide with excitement as Poseidon and Percy just chuckled. Leo popped out of nowhere and offered to take Nico's luggage.

"Well, Percy will show you around and to your room, Nico. I have another business meeting I need to get ready for. Enjoy," Poseidon said as he walked off. Percy called for the elevator and pulled Nico in by the wrist.

"So, hope you like the hotel so far," Percy said, his sea-green eyes studying Nico's eyes intently.

"Yeah, I guess so," Nico said. Percy gave him a dazzling smile and Nico blushed a little. The elevator doors finally dinged open to reveal the entrance of the Jacksons' suite. From Nico's facial expression, Percy could tell that Nico was mildly surprised. He showed Nico around the penthouse and showed Nico the room next to Percy's. Nico got in and set his things down. He sighed contently as he began unpacking and exploring. Percy sat on the circular king-sized bed, now draped with black comforters, and watched Nico intently.

"It's rude to stare, you know," Nico said, with a light blush.

"Hmm? Well I like the view a bit," Percy said. Nico quirked an eyebrow at this, but said nothing. He sat next to Percy and rested his back on his new bed. He let a sigh escape his lips.

"Do you like your room?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, it's nothing like mine at home, but it'll do," Nico joked. Percy smiled and scratched the back of his neck. Percy squeezed Nico's knee, earning a blush from the young boy.

"Well, I'll be leaving now," Percy said as he got up, "I have homework to attend to," Nico smiled.

"See you later, Percy," Nico said. Percy stopped.

"Actually," Percy began, "Why don't you come and join me in my study? We both attend most of the same classes, so…" Nico smiled and then blushed.

"Yeah, okay," Nico said. He sighed – inwardly – contently as he turned around to get his books. Just then, Percy walked up to Nico and took his books for him. Nico just rolled his. It's only been a day and Percy is turning out to be a really nice person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)


	3. School Bully

Nico really liked his stay with the Jacksons. It had been just two days in the hotel and Percy had already shown him almost everything the hotel had to offer. From the indoor swimming pools, Jacuzzis, to the cabanas, restaurants, indoor water slides and malls, Nico was completely flushed and tired. No wonder they were billionaires! Well, nothing compared to his family's fortune, but still, it was rather impressive. He enjoyed everything the hotel had to offer and Percy had taken his very much needed time to show him around. Honestly, to Nico, Percy was rather interesting. He had intense sea-green eyes that drew Nico in every time Percy called his name. Percy had a rather intriguing way of pronouncing Nico's name. He liked it, a lot. Heck, he liked Percy a lot! From his tan, to his sensual abs (which he imagined) to his dazzling smile or sea-green eyes, Nico could feel himself melt into a puddle of goo every time Percy spoke or moved. The way his muscles rippled underneath his tee while he moved or spoke or even smiled, Nico had a serious problem. Sure, no one minded – well some did pass some homophobic comments – but what would Percy think when he found out. And his serious problem was that he was falling harder and harder for Percy with every second Nico spent with him.

Percy offered to drive Nico to school every day. Well, Nico couldn't find it in himself to refuse. Well, he really like Percy but also didn't want to cause Poseidon any trouble. Okay, okay, he liked Percy and that's why he obliged. Nico really liked the Jackson penthouse. They had a squash room and even a gym. And, well, a lot of other stuff, though, Nico didn't want to get lost. This would be halfway through the first week since he began attending ICDAT. He really enjoyed it. He'd never been to other schools before, so it was a new learning experience. He found that the teachers were rather fond of him and he was rather fond of the teachers as well. Chiron being his favorite, since he was Nico's Latin teacher.

Percy and Nico rode in comfortable silence as they zoomed away from the city. Percy slowed down as he left greater Manhattan.

"So," Percy began, "How has your stay been so far, Nico?"

"Well, your mom and dad are very hospitable–" Nico began.

"What about me?" Percy whined playfully. Nico blushed a little and then smiled.

"Well, you're very helpful and caring," Nico began, "Um, you're funny and also very hospitable."

"Anything else?" Percy asked, intrigued by what Nico had to say about him.

"Well, you're cute when you whine," Nico said. Percy scoffed, a little irritated.

"I do  _not_  whine!" Percy whined, again.

Nico quirked an eyebrow and just chuckled as they pulled up into the school driveway. Nico got out and shouldered his backpack. Percy got out and locked his car. He gave Nico a smile. Nico just blushed. He really enjoyed his time with Percy. Especially Percy. Nico didn't realize it, but he was staring at Percy's torso, his gaze unwavering. Percy just chuckled and walked over to Nico, closing his mouth. Nico nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt Percy's warm, soft, smooth fingers touch him. Percy broke into a grin and Nico just blushed.

"Well, well," Percy began, "Someone really likes what he sees," Nico just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," Nico huffed.

"You're not denying it, Neeks!" Percy said, childishly as Nico swatted his arm.

"What's with the weird nickname, Percy?" Nico asked.

"I like it, so live with it," Percy said.

"Child," Nico teased. Percy smirked. Just then, Luke came out of nowhere and slung an arm around Nico.

"What's up cuz?" he asked, all cheerily.

"Hey, Luke," Nico greeted.

"Should Percy be added to your list?" Luke asked. Nico's eyes went as wide as dinner plates as he punched Luke playfully in the abdomen. Everyone around them gasped, expecting Luke to retaliate with brute force. He didn't. He just put on a fake pained look and raised his hands in surrender. Percy was rather confused.

"Nico, what list?" Percy inquired.

"Well, you see–" Luke began.

"Nothing!" Nico interjected. Nico glared daggers at Luke momentarily. Luke just rolled his eyes as he yanked Nico away from Percy to the school entrance, leaving a very, very confused Percy behind.

Nico sat in his Latin class, listening attentively to Chiron. Although it was the first period, many students were strolling into class rather late.

"Well, now we all know that Kronos was the one who attempted to overthrow the gods and with that came a war between Mount. Olympus and Mount. Etna–"

Chiron immediately stopped as a student walked in. he had jet black hair – like Nico – a deep tan, and a smile that nearly blinded Nico. He wore a black leather jacket, some knuckle busters and a leather jeans.

"Ah, good morning, Mr. Ventus," Chiron said.

"None of that, Chiron. You know Dylan is just fine," Dylan said. He walked over to where Nico was sitting and scowled at him, then smirked. He just brushed pass Nico and sat down at the desk next to Nico. He didn't even bother to pull out his textbook or notebook or anything at all. He just lazed about in his chair. Annabeth scowled at him and some other kids just gave him evil grins, which he returned happily. Then he looked at Nico, but Nico was more interested in the lesson. It was rather intriguing how Kronos wanted to destroy his children just for power.  _Idiot,_  Nico thought.

Just then, Nico's phone began to vibrate softly on the desk. He stared up at Chiron, quickly grasping his cellphone. Chiron gave a knowing smile and Nico hurried out of the room, answering the phone.

"Hello. Nico di Angelo speaking," He said as he walked into the hallway. Nico didn't see the glare that Dylan gave him, but Luke did. And he wasn't the slightest bit happy about it.

"Oh, hey mom. What's up?" Nico spoke.

"Well, hello, Nico darling. How are you?" Maria spoke over the phone. Nico smiled.

"Oh, hi, mom. I'm good, but you caught me at a bad time. I'm in Latin class right now, so I'll call you later from the penthouse suite," Nico said.

"Oh, alright. Just do not forget about your loving mother while you live in New York. Enjoy it, honey," Maria said.

"Will do. Bye mom, I gotta go," Nico said.

"Bye, Nico. Don't forget to call," Maria said. The line went dead. Nico pocketed his phone and went back into class and took his seat.

"Anything serious, Nico?" Chiron asked, mildly concerned.

"No, just some family checking up on me. It's so much better to hear someone other than a business friend!" Nico gave an exasperated sigh as most of the class giggled.

"Hold up," Dylan said, "What the heck is going on?"

"Well, Dylan," Chiron began.

"No need, Chiron," Nico interjected, "I'll quickly explain to him," Chiron nodded and motioned for Nico to continue.

"Most of my sister's business colleagues contact me as well as many of my own since I run a whole lot of charities in various communities both affluent and poor societies," Nico offered a smile, though Dylan just scowled.

"Whatever," Dylan said, scowling. Nico quirked an eyebrow at this and Luke who was sitting behind Dylan, kicked Dylan's chair. He nearly yelped out of his skin as most of the class giggled. All except Nico and Dylan. Luke gave a Nico a smile and Dylan just grunted and scowled again.  _Weird,_  Nico thought.

The break couldn't come any faster. Nico just brought some fruit, water and a frozen yogurt to appease Luke. He sat by Luke and Percy, as he usually did.

"Well, hello there, Neeks," Percy said, "What's up?"

"Nothing much, Percy," Nico said, taking a bite of a white grape, "Just a bit tired. Can't wait to get back and sleep a bit,"

"Do you want Percy to join you?" Luke asked. Percy had to stifle a laugh as Nico smacked Luke upside the head. Luke held up his hands in surrender.

"Well, we meet again, di Angelo," Dylan said as Dylan wove his arm around Piper's shoulders,

"Nico's just fine," Nico said.

"Oh, my. I do beg your pardon, Your Highness," Dylan said as he smirked. Nico scowled at this.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nico asked, eyeing Dylan.

"Oh, just that you're kinda poor compared to us," Dylan said. Piper swatted his arm.

"Well, it doesn't really matter whether someone's rich or poor," Nico retorted.

"So, you're poor then?" Dylan asked. Luke attempted to rise, but Nico held him back.

"No, I didn't say that," Nico began, "No, my family's is rather wealthy, but it isn't something I go throwing around in peoples' faces,"

"Really, now," Dylan asked. Nico nodded, already bored by the conversation. "Well, then, why don't you go to another school and leave if you're so  _rich_  when we all know you aren't,"

This caught the attention of some of Percy's friends and they tried to calm Luke down immediately. Percy on the other hand, was ready to slaughter the guy, but held himself back, setting Dylan with a glare.

"You, know, you really shouldn't judge people by their status in society," Nico said.

"Why?" Dylan asked, "Are we too poor for you?" Nico just rolled his eyes.

"No, didn't say that either. It's unfair. I wouldn't do that to you and I doubt anyone else here would," Nico said. At this point Nico was bored, and Dylan was irritated that he didn't get the response he wanted from Nico. So he slammed his palms down on the table and Luke had to be dragged away, while Percy clenched his fists. Nico, on the other hand, didn't even flinch.

"Well, then, aren't you a Ms. Goody-good," Dylan growled.

"Actually, it's Mr. to you, if you wish to go about calling people by their gender reference," Nico retorted. Dylan grunted.

"Well, my oh my, if you wanna get technical," Dylan said, "But I want to know why you have your cellphone put in class," Nico quirked an eyebrow at this.

"If this is why you're here, you're being childish," Nico said, standing up, "I really don't have time for your rather deformed ideas and painfully stupid redundancy. Please keep all pre-stupid, stupid and post-stupid notions to yourself. Go bother someone who'll actually retaliate to what you're saying," Nico paused to see Annabeth giggle and then snicker, "because I won't," with that, Nico took his leave. Dylan was so baffled, he stumbled backwards trying to comprehend what Nico just said. And when he fried the only two brain cells he had, he jumped over the table and grabbed Nico by the wrist, and spun him around to face himself.

"What. The. Hell?!" Dylan said, letting go of Nico's wrist since Luke glared at him so icily, it might have frozen hell in a second.

"Look, I don't have time for this. Did you honestly come all the way over here to argue about my smartphone?" Nico asked.

"No," Dylan began, smirking, "Just curious as to how rich you exactly are,"

"Really, that again?" Nico asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, yeah," Dylan said, "You see, my dad is a billionaire and my mom's a billionaire. I'm on my way to becoming a millionaire. What about you, dear Nico?" Nico rolled his eyes as Luke broke free of Annabeth grip. Luke hurtled toward Dylan, who stumbled backwards in shock. But Nico just stepped in front of him and Luke came to a grinding halt.

"Nico, what–?" Luke questioned, but was cut off.

"Fine," Nico said. Upon hearing this, Dylan walked up to Nico, crossed his arms over his chest and waited. "My father, Hades di Angelo, is the sole owner of Precious Metals Mining and Partners. He, unlike most of your parents – no offense guys –" Nico said. Everyone nodded apprehensively "Is a multi-trillionaire in the making and so is my mother, Maria di Angelo. She's an actress, TV hostess and also a writer. My sister is still making her fortune, however she's a billionaire already. I, on the other hand, am already a millionaire and nearly a billionaire. Honestly, I don't know why all of this is important to someone outside my family, since it doesn't concern you. If I were you, I would stop trying to flaunt around my family's wealth because there are others out there who might be even richer," Nico finished, with a smirk. Dylan looked baffled for a moment but then broke into a grin.

"Well, well, my aren't you rich. Do you get everything you want? Do you just go crying to mommy and daddy for what you want–?" Dylan was cut off by Nico.

"I already have my own money. Now please, I've heard enough about your pointless ramblings. I have a class to get to and I don't want to be late," Nico turned around and began walking. "You coming, guys?" Nico asked. Everyone began walking away from Dylan looks of disapproval or false sympathy.

"This isn't over, di Angelo," Dylan called after Nico. Nico, rather irritated, turned around and fixed Dylan with a deathly glare.

"You ended it the moment you thought you were better than me, Dylan," Nico called back. Nico turned around and walked away while Percy quickly jogged after him. Percy was rather impressed by the way Nico handled the situation.

"Good going, Nico," Percy said, slinging an arm around Nico's shoulders.

"What do you mean?" Nico asked, clearly perplexed, a blush dusting his cheeks.

"Well," Annabeth started, "You just took down Dylan whereas most of the new students cower away from him,"

"Um, he deserved it. You can't just walk all over people just because of your financial or social status. It's wrong, and highly unappreciated," Nico said. Annabeth looked impressed.

"Nice one," she said, "Boy Genius," Nico groaned.

"What is it with you people and nicknames?" Nico whined.

"Well, it's what we love," Percy said, "Annabeth's Wise Girl. Piper's Beauty Queen. Thalia's Pine Face. Jason's Sparky. I'm Seaweed Brain and you're Boy Genius OR Neeks. Welcome to the club!" Nico groaned and then a thought crossed his mind.

"Seaweed Brain, huh?" Nico asked.

"Annabeth!" Percy whined, "It's all your fault," Annabeth just burst out laughing, as did the rest of the group. Nico really loved his new friends. A lot.

* * *

 

Nico had English class with Dr. Boring. Luckily Dylan wasn't in his class, but the rest of his friends were. He listened intently as Dr. Boring discussed  _To Kill a Mockingbird._ He spoke about the rather mysterious Boo Radley and how he played an important role in the story. Of course, he took a liking to Scout and Jem since they were the main protagonists of the story compared to the Ewels. He really dislike the laws of Segregation as it was unfair towards all. Nico also thought that Mayella was rather silly. He didn't like the fact that she used Tom – yes, he believed Tom over her – to get what she wanted. Attention. It was sickening really. And then there was Percy, oh gorgeous Percy. His sea-green eyes entrancing him and his divine body. Nico unconsciously licked his lips, thinking of what Percy would look like without his shirt. Nico was snapped out of his train of thought when Dr. Boring asked him something.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat the question?" Nico asked. Dr. Boring sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I did not ask you a question, I said that you should answer you cellphone," Dr. Boring said, his as eyes flashed with irritation.

"Oh," Nico said, a blush dusting his cheeks. Percy smirked and Nico scowled at him, walking out the door. Nico clicked accept and brought the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" Nico asked.

"Hello, Nico. It's Bianca." Nico broke into a grin, even though his face hurt a bit.

"Hi, Bianca! How are you?" Nico replied.

"I'm great!" Bianca spoke. Nico could practically hear the smile on her face.

"Well, how are you enjoying your new school? I'm sure I'm disturbing, but they won't die." Bianca said.

"Um, it's very nice here." Nico said. Just as he said that, Dylan emerged into the hallway.

"Bianca, I have to go," Nico said, hanging up, much to his sister's protest.

"Well, hello my dear friend," Dylan said. Nico glared at the boy in front of him for a moment.

"What do you want?" Nico snapped. Dylan smirked and walked closer to Nico. Nico stumbled back a bit until his back came into contact with the cold metal of the lockers that laced the walls. Dylan smirked as he placed both his hands on either sides of his head.

"Just a little question," Dylan said, grinning wildly. Nico just rolled his eyes. He swatted Dylan's arm away and began to walk away.

"Hey!" Dylan exclaimed. "Get your gay ass back over here!" a smirk gracing his

Nico stopped in his tracks, his eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"And your point is?" Nico asked, not turning around to look at the taller boy.

"Well," Dylan began, "You're a disgusting little fag, not to mention you must be a whore. And, since you're  _so_  rich, you must be having sex every night, you little bitch." Upon the last word that left Dylan's mouth, Nico spun around, his eyes ablaze and his face contorted with anger.

"What?" Nico said, biting back a growl. Dylan smirked and let out a dry chuckle.

"My word. Looks like the little gay bitch is having trouble understanding what I'm saying," Dylan said. By this point, Nico felt very hurt, tears threatening to prick the surface of his eyes.

"St-stop," Nico said. "I didn't do anything to anger you at all. What do you hate me so much? His voice raised a bit. Dylan's smirk only grew.

"Well, my little slut," Dylan continued, "Let me introduce you to my friends. This is Cal," Dylan said, gesturing to a large jock with an ugly face. "And this is Zethes," Dylan said, gesturing to a thin boy who seemed to have a terrible case of acne. "And they are … pleased to meet you." Dylan said, with an evil grin plastered onto his face.

"Well, Cal, look at this piece of gay trash!" Zethes said. Nico heard Cal chuckle.

"Yeah, I see it," he said, "Time for some disfiguring" walking toward Nico, he grabbed a fist full of Nico's shirt with his left arm and drew back a fist with his right. Nico screwed his eyes shut, preparing for the punch that might permanently change the appearance of his face. However, it did not come. Nico opened his eyes to find a gorgeous cerulean blue-eyed boy with golden curly hair yank Cal away from Nico and punch his nose in. Zethes looked at his bother in shock as Cal fell to the floor, clutching his nose. Dylan was overwhelmed with shock and anger.

"I'll get you," Dylan growled as he turned on his heel and ran down the hall.

"Don't worry," the blond said, offering Nico a smile. Nico sniffled and nodded.

"I'm Apollo Phoebus," Apollo said with a brilliant smile.

"I-I'm Nico," Nico stuttered, wiping some tears away. Apollo frowned at the younger boy.

"Hey," Apollo said, placing a hand on Nico's shoulder. "Be proud of who you are. Don't let the crap others say to you or do to you get to you. Be proud." Apollo said. Nico nodded, unmoving. Apollo sighed, contemplating whether to do what he was thinking of. Slowly, he moved his hand to Nico's lower back, followed by his other and pulled the boy into his warm embrace. Nico, was a bit startled, but flung his arms around the taller young man and began sniffling a bit into his shoulder. Apollo sighed, and squeezed Nico a little tighter. Nico really liked the warm embrace of Apollo and felt like he didn't want to let go. Nico remembered he still had a class and removed his hands from Apollo's shoulder. Apollo smiled. Nico nodded, wiping his face and rubbing his nose. He tried to fix his messy hair and Apollo chuckled. Once Nico was satisfied, he said his thanks to Apollo and walked off to his Latin class.

"Nico," Chiron said, very concerned, "Are you alright?"

"Just fine," Nico said, taking his seat, his façade of a mask cracking a bit. Luke gave a very concerned look, but Nico just ignored him. Percy was also very concerned. He could feel the anger emanating from Nico. He made a mental note to find out what was wrong, and how he could help.


	4. Bullies Are Emotional Terrorists

Percy was irritated by the last period. He had Art class with Mrs. Kerr and was failing miserably at sculpting a bust of Cleopatra. The headband was supposed to be a cobra but looked more like a deformed earthworm. Her face, was nothing less than a disaster. Her cheek bones were low and slumped, her left eye was bigger than the right and she had no upper lip. Her chin was smashed in and her forehead hopelessly too big. Percy was horrible at things art-related. Well, the new kid, some Phoebus, was really good. He sculpted a bust of what looked like Shakespeare. It was very good.  _Maybe he got a scholarship or something,_  Percy thought. Anyway, he didn't care. He was more concerned with Nico and the face that he came into Latin class very upset after his phone call and if Luke was concerned, then Percy should be as well. The bell finally rang and Percy quickly rushed to the nearest basin to clean his hands and discard his apron. He ran his wet hand through his hair, slightly disheveling it. Annabeth walked up to him and offered a smile as she rinsed her hands.

"What's wrong?" She asked. Percy thought for a while. Annabeth might be able to suggest something.

"I'm just concerned as to what happened to Nico when he took his phone call during Latin class. He came back in very upset," Percy replied.

"Yeah, we all noticed. Guess you can ask him later or something." Annabeth said, as she shrugged. Percy nodded as she walked off. He quickly jogged out of the Art room to the Admin block so that he could catch Nico before they went to leave their stuff. He needed to talk to the younger boy privately. Well, that could be done at the penthouse. Percy decided against it and just decided to go and wait at his car for the raven-haired boy. Nico had already been at Percy's car when he finally got to the parking lot. Nico was having a heated conversation with Luke and was flailing his hands all over the place. As he got closer, he could hear Luke yelling at Nico while he hung his head in shame.

"What hell, Nico?!" Luke bellowed. "Why didn't you tell me? If I get my hands on him, I swear he'll die!" Nico was a bit startled.

"Luke," Nico began, "Please, just leave him alone. I told you, Apollo was there–"

"Don't give me that fucking crap!" Luke interjected, angrily. "You're my family. What if that Apollo kid  _wasn't_ there, huh?" Nico picked up his head, his eyes read and puffy and his cheeks wet. Luke immediately softened and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'm-I'm sorry," Nico said. Luke let out a long breath and nodded while he pulled Nico into a hug.

"What's going on here?" Percy interrupted. Nico hid his face in Luke's firm chest while Luke signaled for Percy to come around and speak with him.

"Dylan happened," Luke growled.

"Oh," Percy said his eyes darkening with fury, "I see. What exactly happened?" Luke explained everything to Percy, while Nico just held onto Luke as if he were going to die. Nico cried a bit, but didn't say much. When Luke was finished, Percy was more than infuriated. His jaw tightened and he was about ready to murder anyone.

"Just, let him calm down," Luke said, "Take him home and just let him relax." Percy nodded and unlocked his car. Luke gently moved Nico away and opened the door for him, motioning for him to get inside. Nico nodded and slumped in his seat as Luke shut the door. He waved them off as the car zoomed away from the school. The drive was silent for a while, until Percy attempted to speak with Nico.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Percy inquired. Nico let out a long breath before answering.

"I-I just didn't want to involve you guys," Nico said.

"We're your friends, Nico. We're always going to want to help you."

"I know. I just thought I could help myself … but then Apollo came and he helped me…" Nico said.

"Yeah, well, Earth to Nico di Angelo, we're your  _friends_  and we'd love to help you out when we can. I mean, come on! You practically live with me!" Percy said.

"Yeah…" Nico said, turning away and looking out the window. Percy just huffed as he pulled up outside the hotel. They got out, shouldered their backpacks and Percy handed Leo a twenty. Percy guided Nico to elevator and hit the call button. Once they filed in, Percy hit the button for the penthouse suite. Once they entered the suite, Nico walked up the stairs and headed for his room. Percy just sighed and went to leave his backpack in his study. He found a note from his mom:

_Dear Percy,_

_Please be informed that your father and I will be out all day and unavailable. The staff will be there to attend to both yours and Nico's needs._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Mom._

Percy decided to go check on Nico. He stood and knocked on Nico's door. There was some shuffling, but Nico came and answered.

"Do you need something?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He had changed into a grey track pants and yet another black tee.

"No, I just wanted to talk," Percy replied.

"We've already talked about this, Percy," Nico said. "Now, please, I don't want to talk about anything. Apollo and Luke will be coming over later, just so you know. We can talk then."

"But–" Percy stopped himself. "Never mind. Talk later." Nico nodded as Percy walked off to his study. He had a lot of homework to complete.

* * *

 

Percy was in his study completing some Calculus homework when the elevator dinged open. He jogged out of the private living-room to the find their butler – Gabe Ugliano – had already been speaking with two familiar blonds.

"Don't worry about it," Percy called after the hefty butler. He nodded and walked off.

"What's up, Percy?" Luke greeted, a blank expression gracing his face.

"Nothing really," Percy said.

"You have a lovely home," Apollo said, sticking out his hand. "I don't believe we've met properly. I'm Apollo Phoebus."

"Percy Jackson," Percy said, shaking the blond's hand. He was dressed in a dark blue tank top and black jeans. "You guys are here to see Nico, I take it?" Percy asked.

"Yeah," Luke said.

"Follow me," Percy said. He was contemplating whether or not to kick them out. He was sure Nico didn't want to be bothered by them, but Nico would probably just get angry at Percy.  _An angry Nico,_  Percy mused. He had yet to see that. While Apollo was marveling at all of the sculptures that lined the halls. Percy finally stopped outside Nico's door. He placed his ear against the door to check if there was anything he could hear. Nothing.

"Well, I guess I'll just knock," Percy said. He knocked the door – as he did earlier – and waited. There was some shuffling and the door opened. Luke beamed down at his cousin whereas Nico just nodded. Apollo flashed a smile at the younger boy but Nico just nodded again.

"Hey, guys," He greeted them finally.

"Well, well, Nico," Apollo said, "at least you're okay now!" Nico offered a tiny smile.

"May we come in?" Apollo asked.

"Yeah," Nico said. Apollo and Luke brushed passed Percy and went into his room.

"You coming?" Nico asked Percy. Percy smiled.

"Yeah," Percy said, walking into Nico's room. When Percy walked in, he was greeted by one color and one color alone. Black. From the bed sheets, to the draperies and curtains – they were all black. Nico walked over to a small desk next to his bed and took a seat in the only chair and continued to complete whatever he was doing. Luke rolled his eyes.

"Is that how you treat guests?" Luke asked, irritated. Apollo smirked and Percy frowned.

"Well, technically, you're  _my_ guests," Percy said, "and I'm sure Nico just wants to finish his homework." Nico looked over and gave a nod of appreciation.

"Well," Apollo began, "your room is … different," Apollo said.

"Yeah," Nico said, "I like dark colors." Luke walked over to Nico and bent over the younger boy's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Luke asked as Apollo took a seat on Nico's bed and Percy went to stand against Nico's desk, crossing his arms. Luke's brow furrowed when he noticed that Nico was just scribbling on a piece of paper over and over again. Luke stood up straight and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had on a deep red tank top and blue jeans. He walked over to the bed and sat next to Apollo.

"Is he okay?" Apollo asked.

"Yeah, he's just angry," Luke said. Nico looked up at Percy with his huge brown eyes and Percy smiled down at the boy.

"Well, well," Percy began, "looks like Nico decided to finally talk to his friend." Nico blushed bit.

"Yeah," Nico said, "just angry." Percy frowned.

"Nico, you should be proud of who you are. Just because you're different, that doesn't mean you should be treated differently. Besides, if being sane means there's something wrong with being different … I'd rather be completely fucking mental." Percy finished.

"Angelina Jolie," Nico said, smiling. Percy grinned in reply. Nico stood up and went to sit next to Luke. Luke looked up from his smartphone and smiled.

"So," Luke began, "how are you going?"

"Um, good," Nico said offering a small smile. Luke nodded and just went back to checking his smartphone. Nico then remembered he had to call his mother and sister.

"Um, guys," Nico said getting everyone's attention, "I need to make some phone calls." Not even waiting for a response, Nico walked out of the room and dialed his mother's number. Voicemail. He cut the call and tried his sister's number, frowning when she didn't pick up. Nico sighed and went back to his room to find Percy and Apollo talking.

"So, your mom's a sculptor?" Apollo asked.

"Yes," Percy said, clearly uncomfortable talking to the blond. Nico forged ahead, passing Luke and taking a seat next to Apollo. The blond beamed and forgot about Percy.

"So, Nico," Apollo began, "are you doing better?"

"Yeah," Nico said, tossing his smartphone onto his bed.

"You sure?" Apollo asked. Nico looked up at the blond, greeted by blue eyes, golden curls and a dazzling smile. Nico just nodded, a frown marring his lips. Apollo smirked.

"Want another hug?" The blond asked. Nico shot up as fast as lightning from the bed and stood firm in front of the blond.

"No," Nico said incredulously. "I just want to sleep a bit." Luke grunted but didn't retaliate. He stood up, dragging Apollo behind him. He stopped and turned to face Nico.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Nico," Luke said. Nico nodded as both blonds walked out of the room. Nico sighed and sat down on his bed. Percy decided to talk to him.

"So," Percy said, sitting down, "um, you wanna talk about that?" Nico just sighed as he unconsciously rested his head against Percy's muscular, broad shoulder.

"No," Nico said softly, but firmly.

"I see," Percy said, "and  _another_  hug from Apollo?" Percy inquired – full of humor. Nico immediately removed his head, his cheeks red as roses.

"Y-yeah," Nico stuttered, looking away from the see-green eyed Adonis.

"You could have just asked me for one, you know," Percy said with a smirk, leaning in. Nico's cheeks darkened further and looked up at Percy, his eyes longing for a hug from the guy that he so much adored and desired.

"Th-that would b-be nice," Nico said, nearly dying from all of the blushing. Percy slowly draped his arm around Nico's shoulders and the other around Nico's chest. He slowly turned the smaller boy to face him and pulled him into a warm, long, strong hug. Nico just sat there in Percy's amazingly warm embrace. He smelled like the sea.  _Probably his body wash,_ Nico contemplated. Nico sighed as he wove his arms around Percy's neck into Percy's divinely muscular chest. Percy moved his arms to Nico's waist and hugged Nico tighter. Nico slowly moaned as Percy rubbed circles on his back. Percy was such a nice person to hug and Nico didn't want to let go. Percy rested his chin on Nico's hair and took in the scent of Nico's pomegranate shampoo. Percy sighed, contently as his grip loosened. Nico frowned.

"Don't let me go," Nico whispered. Percy laughed and Nico felt Percy's chest rumble. It was a beautiful sound. He hugged Nico for a few more minutes.

"Well, we should complete our homework and get ready for my parents," Percy said quietly. Nico nodded as Percy let go of Nico and tossed him a smile before walking out of his room. When Percy shut the door, Nico laid back onto his bed and let out a long breath. The best thing just happened to him. A simple hug.

* * *

 

Nico was a bit happier the next day. He had a smile on his face as both he and Percy walked out of the hotel that morning and waited for Leo.

"Well, someone's happy," Percy said with a sly smirk. Nico blushed a bit, but said nothing. There was an awkward silence for a while until Leo pulled up with Percy's car.

" _Hola,_ Percy, Nico." The Latino greeted.

"What's up, Leo?" Percy greeted back.

"Nothing really," the Latino replied. Percy smiled as he got into the car. Nico rode shotgun as always and Percy zoomed away as Nico admired Percy's choice of clothes for the day, a simple black tee that hugged Percy's upper body a bit too tightly and a blue jeans. It suited him so well, and Nico was practically drooling. The drove in comfortable silence until they reached the school's driveway. Percy got out while Nico shouldered his backpack. There was not much of a media crowd today, just some security guards. Nico quickly checked his smartphone for any new messages or missed calls, but thankfully, none so far. He pocketed his smartphone, and smiled up at Percy. Together, they walked to the Admin block of the things they didn't need. On the way, they bumped into Luke, who, as always, was cheerful to see Nico.

"Hey Nico!" The blond greeted, slinging an arm around Nico's shoulders. Nico smiled.

"Hi, Luke," Nico said. However, Luke did not even spare Nico a glance. He and Percy seemed to be having a conversation with their eyes. Percy nodded and Luke turned his icy blue eyes on Nico.

"Percy and I need to talk," Luke said slipping his hand down to Nico's back. Nico scowled at this, but nodded. They walked off, leaving Nico alone at his locker. Nico dumped his books into his locker and grabbed his Calculus textbook. He turned around to face Apollo, leaning against a locker with a smirk.

"Well, hello, there," The blond greeted. Nico blushed a bit.

"Morning, Apollo," Nico said. Apollo moved a little toward Nico and placed his hands on either side of Nico's head. Nico was blushing crazily as Apollo grinned maniacally.

"You're an interesting one," Apollo said, "I thought you'd attack my lips, but I guess I wasn't what you wanted," Nico scowled at this and let his eyes drop away from the blond.

"I-I like someone else," Nico said.

"You sure?" Apollo asked, leaning in to whisper in Nico's ear. "Because I promise that you'll enjoy your every moment with me," Apollo pulled back with a smirk, while Nico's cheeks darkened even further. Nico was speechless. All he could do was nod in response. Apollo smiled but freed Nico from his intense gaze. Nico offered a small smile and walked off. However, he was brought into contact with someone's chest. When he looked up, he saw Dylan he nearly jumped out of his skin. He tried to get away but Dylan was quick and grabbed Nico's shirt. He looked around for Cal and Zethes to find them holding Apollo back and trying to squeeze the life out of him – well, Cal mostly, anyway – and Nico looked away.

"Well, well. If it isn't the gay,  _intelligent_  bitch," Dylan said. Nico had to fight the urge to tremble in fear but held his fists at his side.

"Whatever," Nico said trying to escape Dylan's grasp. He failed. The next thing Nico new, he was on the floor, his left cheek throbbing, a bit of blood trickling from the area on his cheek that took a blow from Dylan's knuckle busters. Nico was in total shock. He had never actually been hit or even in a fight. But he was on the floor, Dylan towering over him with a smirk.

"My, oh my," Dylan said, picking Nico up by the collar of his shirt. Nico tried to look around for help but everyone seemed to be elsewhere. And when Nico dared look in Apollo's direction, he was at wits' end. The blond was being held up by Zethes while Cal repeatedly rammed his fist into the blond's gut. Apollo doubled over and gagged. Nico felt so sorry for the blond, but he was powerless.

"It's time to play," Dylan said, picking Nico up to face him. "Tell me, why do you always wanna say something smart? Is it really worth all of this?" Nico said nothing. So, Dylan drew back a fist and slammed it into Nico gut. When Nico doubled over, Dylan dropped his grip and kicked Nico in the chest with his knee. Nico was in a lot of pain. Actually, that's an understatement. Nico was in more pain than he had ever been. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and his stomach. He couldn't help but fall to the floor. Then, out of nowhere, someone came barreling towards Dylan and slammed a fist into his face. Dylan stumbled backwards, but stood his ground. He had an annoying smirk plastered onto is face as he darted for the person between Nico and Dylan. Who was it? The person had black hair and … and Nico would really couldn't care. He was in too much of pain to care. Whatever happened to Dylan, was blurry. The next thing Nico knew, he was being held up by Luke and Apollo. He wasn't in that much pain anymore, but he was rather tired. Luke gave him a rather sad look as did Apollo. The only person Nico didn't see, was Percy. The see-green eyed Adonis was nowhere to be seen. Nico was a bit disappointed, but then again, Percy was probably busy being the Vice President of the Student Body and all that. They took Nico to the school infirmary and had him checked up. The nurse didn't have any problems, just bandaged him up and gave Nico a few looks of sympathy.

It had appeared that it was time to go home, so Nico didn't protest when Luke got tired of holding Nico up by one arm and carried him by himself – bridal style – to Apollo's car. Nico wanted to protest and run back to find Percy, but was brought to an abrupt halt by Luke's chest.

"Where do you think you're going?" Luke inquired harshly.

"I wanna see Percy," Nico said, his eyes pleading like a puppy. It was a look that Luke had learned to appreciate and always tried to defy it, but failed terribly. Now, he really needed to act his age – 23, of course – and get Nico home.

"No," Luke said coldly, "Get your ass in my car so I can take you back to the Jackson Penthouse." Nico tried his best and pleaded with the blond while Apollo just leaned against Luke's Maserati and watched the two cousins argue.

"Please, Luke," Nico said, his voice barely a whisper. "You of  _all_  people should know why–" but Nico was stopped abruptly when Luke spun him around and forcefully – not hurtfully – and pushed him into his car.

"I hate you." Nico mumbled. Luke just chuckled. Apollo got into the back and slipped on his headphones. Nico just let out a long breath as they drove away. Luke played some music as they sped along the road.

"So, are you okay?" Luke asked. Nico turned to face Luke. He stared at the blond for what seemed the longest time.

"I guess I'm fine," Nico replied, turning to face the window. Luke was a bit hurt but said nothing. They eventually arrived outside the Lotus hotel and Resort.

"Do you want me to walk you to the door?" Luke asked.

"No," Nico said. "Thanks for the offer, though." With that, Nico left the car, closing the door behind him. He walked up to the hotel doors to be greeted by Leo.

"Good day, Mr. di Angelo," Leo said with a bright smile but then frowned.

"Where's Percy?" the Latino asked. But Nico didn't answer, he just walked way. Honestly, Nico didn't know at all. He just hoped that he was okay. Unfortunately, Nico didn't see a certain cerulean blue-eyed run up behind him when he boarded the elevator and turned around with a yelp of surprise.

"What are you doing here?!" Nico asked hissed.

"Just here to check on you," Apollo said, flashing a dazzling smile. Nico rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," Nico said. The ride up to the penthouse was a long one, listening to Apollo's music and the thoughts flying through his mind, worried sick about Percy. The elevator doors dinged open and Nico walked straight up to his room, not even noticing the note Mrs. Jackson left for both him and Percy. He was obviously, pursued by the blond.

"Hey!" Apollo huffed, "wait up, Nico!" Nico slowed down a bit for the blond to catch up until he reached his room. He entered and dumped his backpack on the floor, going to the bathroom to immediately change his clothes. After five minutes, Nico exited the bathroom in a black tank top and grey track pants. He found Apollo lounging on his bed.

"What do you want?" Nico snapped. Apollo gave him a fake pained expression.

"Nothing really," He said richly, walking up to the brown-eyed boy with a smirk. "I want you, but then again, you're not nothing," the blond said startling Nico a bit.

"I-I like someone else," Nico said. Falling onto his bed. Apollo leaned down and placed his hands on either side of Nico's head.

"Really?" the blond asked, leaning down to bite down on Nico's neck. Apollo smirked when Nico released a string of moans. Apollo slipped his hands under Nico's shirt and his fingers ghosted across the boy's pale skin, making Nico shiver in pleasure. Apollo then lowered himself so that he hovered over the boy and practically straddled the boy. He rolled his hips against Nico's lower extremities earning moans that filled the room. Nico enjoyed it, but didn't want it to go any further.

"Apollo," Nico said, "St-stop," the blond pulled back from Nico looking for any traces of humor. There were none. Apollo nodded and pulled back, a little wounded, but not anything he couldn't fix. He smirked as he said his goodbye slyly, kissing Nico's hand and walking away. Nico really needed to decide what he was going to do. He loved everything about Percy and wanted to be with him  _so_ much, but didn't know how to tell him. Little did he know about the pair of sea-green eyes that watch the scene between him and Apollo unfold, yet didn't stay to watch when it looked like Apollo was about to take Nico.


	5. Percy Is A Very Naughty Boy

Percy was absolutely shocked at what he witnessed. After all of the punishment he had taken upon himself so that he could protect Nico, his guest. After he had punched in Dylan's face repeatedly, he fractured a couple of his ribs and broke his left arm. Percy was worse than Luke when he got angry and was probably goaded on because of what Dylan did to Nico. But now, now Percy was infuriated. He was coming home from school and even dissed Leo because he wanted to check on Nico. But when he entered the hallway leading to his bedroom, he heard some weird noises from Nico's room and peeked through the door since it was ajar. The sight was rather irritating and what Percy saw really made him angrier. Apollo, straddling Nico and probably giving him a hickey while Nico moaned. Percy was too irritated and tired to do anything. He didn't have the energy to argue, so he walked away. Angered, frustrated, irritated and maybe  _jealous?_ Percy didn't know. All he knew was that he just wanted to shower and do nothing. And that's exactly what he did.

Percy just hurried through everything. His shower, changing of clothes and homework. He didn't even want to see his parents  _or_ Nico. Percy didn't know whether to be jealous or happy. He lay on his bed in a black workout pants and a blue tee. Just then, someone knocked the door. Percy groaned, debating whether or not to answer the door, but did anyway. He walked over and opened the door to find Nico staring up at him.

"H-hi, Percy," Nico greeted. Percy assumed a blank look but nodded. Nico started playing with his fingers, while Percy's intense sea-green eyes studied him.

"May I come in?" He asked. Percy sighed and nodded. Nico turned to face Percy as Percy turned away from the door.

"Why are you here?" Percy asked.

"To see you," Nico said carefully, "I was worried about you because after Dylan … I-I didn't see you." Percy nodded. He noticed that the brown eyed boy started fidgeting with his fingers.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked out of the blue.

"Yeah," Nico said, "a bit sore, but I'm sure I'll be fine. What about you?" Nico gave the younger boy a look of curiosity.

"I'm fine, Nico," Percy said, "is there anything else?" Percy asked. Nico scowled, but shook his head. Percy headed towards the door and opened it to let Nico out. Nico stopped to stare at Percy for a while.

"Actually," Nico said, "there  _is_  one more thing." Percy nodded. What Nico did surprised Nico, it kind of scared him. But he liked it. Nico reached up and let his fingers ghost on Percy's cheek. Nico looked at him with warm eyes and deep blush. Percy froze when Nico tip-toed and pressed his lips against Percy's cheek. Nico drew back. His face lighting up.

"Thank you," he whispered. Nico let his arms drop to his sides and walked away from a very confused Percy. Percy closed his door and walked towards his bed, collapsing onto it. Nico was as confusing as he was cute, but Percy couldn't love him. No, he couldn't because of Apollo. Percy hated to admit it, but he didn't like the idea that Apollo could get to Nico so quickly. Percy pouted clearly unsatisfied.

* * *

 

Percy slumped in his seat during dinner. His dad – as usual – was not there except for his mom and Nico. Percy sat next to Nico while the dishes of food were placed elegantly on the tables by their staff. His mom smiled at him lazily and regarded Nico with a smile as well.

"How was school?" she asked, wary of Percy's actions that day. However, Nico answered.

"It was … okay, Mrs. Jackson." Nico said. Percy turned away from his mom's gaze to roll his eyes at Nico's statement. Nico offered her a tiny smile. She gave them both a curious look, but said nothing. The dinner went on very quietly. No one wanted to speak or do anything else. Nico hadn't eaten much and neither did Percy. He smiled to himself, remembering how Luke would attempt to make Nico eat more during lunch at school. Percy looked down at his plate, still filled with pieces of meat and remnants of salad.

"May I be excused?" Percy asked. Sally looked rather curiously at Percy, but made no effort to deny the boy his request. She nodded and Percy rose abruptly and walked up to his room. Percy walked through the halls until he reached his room. He threw the door open, not bothering to close it and stripped himself of his shirt and pants. He collapsed on his bed and just laid there for a moment. He didn't seem to know whether he was angry at Nico for messing around with Apollo or whether he was being jealous. He hated all this uncertainty. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, when he heard a knock at his door. He propped himself on his elbows to find Nico standing in the doorway, rubbing his arm.

"Um, can we talk?" Nico asked. Percy nodded and when Nico finally came close enough to see Percy, his cheeks darkened at the sight of a near naked Percy.

"What's up, Nico?" Percy asked blankly.

"Well, you acted  _really_  weird at dinner and I was wondering if I could help you with anything." Nico said, offering a smile.

"Well," Percy said, contemplating whether to bring up what he had seen earlier or not. "I'm just tired, that's it." Nico frowned, clearly unconvinced but said nothing else. Nico trekked over to Percy's bed and sat there for a minute. When Nico said didn't say anything, Percy decided to speak up.

"Anything else?" The sea-green eyed Adonis asked. Nico blushed, but just shook his head. Percy sighed. "Okay, but could you please leave? I want to call it a night." Nico frowned, looking hurt but didn't retaliate. He simply got up and walked over to the door, pausing for a moment.

"You know," Nico said, turning around, "I'm here to talk if you need to." Percy gave Nico a small smile and nodded. Nico smiled back and closed the door on his way out. Percy sighed. He fell against his bed and drifted off into a deep sleep.

* * *

 

In the morning, Percy really didn't feel like going to school. He didn't feel sick or anything. He just felt … he didn't know what he felt. And he finally realized it was actually Saturday. One on hand, he really liked Nico. On the other, he didn't want to drag Nico away from Apollo or anything. Percy was no home wrecker. He really liked the fact that Nico was thankful and also had no place to be jealous, but he made a decision to start pushing Nico away. Sure he'd defend him and help him, but he would  _not_  let him into his life. Percy sighed as he threw the covers off of himself, clad only in his boxer-shorts, he walked over to his shower, and only entered to exit about a half hour later. He walked into his closet, grabbing a pair of underwear, blue jeans and a black tee. He stumbled a bit, trying to get into his jeans and just collapsed onto his bed after that. Then, a knocking came from his door. Percy groaned, as he placed his shirt on his shoulder walking to the door. When he opened the door, he saw two brown orbs staring up at him. Nico went to say something but promptly shut his mouth when he noticed Percy was shirtless. Nico raked his eyes up and down Percy's body. Percy smirked when Nico finally decided to look him in the eye.

"U-uh, h-hi," Nico said, his face lighting up.

"Well, hello there," Percy said, "What can I do for a cute thing such as yourself?" Nico's cheeks darkened further, and Percy could have sworn that Nico wanted to throw himself at Percy.

"W-well, it's Saturday," Nico began, "I was wondering i-if you wanted to hang out?"

"Really?" Percy said, smirking. But then, he remembered his decision. "I don't think I can, though," Nico's eyes widened at this with shock, and his shoulders slumped, but nodded.

"Oh." he said in a small voice.

"If there isn't anything else?" Percy asked. Nico shook his head and turned away.

"Have a nice day." He said. That was what Percy wanted. He just didn't want to cause problem for Nico. He slipped on his shirt and started for the dining room. His mother, nor his father were there. He was surprised, however, to see Rachel Dare sipping some tea.

"Morning, Percy," she greeted brightly.

"Morning," Percy said. She smiled at him.

"It's Saturday," she said. Percy tossed her a smile as he sat next to her. "Doing anything?"

"No," Percy said. "I'm rather tired and I just want to relax today. Where's my mom and dad?"

"Out," she said, "said you could do what you like." Percy nodded as he buttered a slice of toast. Not long after that, Percy's phone went off. Percy frowned. He didn't remember carrying his smartphone with him. He looked at the name on the screen.  _Luke_ , it had read. He clicked accept.

"What's up, Luke?" Percy greeted.

"Nothing much," Luke began. "I was wondering if you could ask Nico if he wanted to hang out today. I tried calling him, he didn't answer. He only does that if something is wrong or if I got him angry." Percy let out a breath.

"Sure, I'll ask him," Percy said, "call you in five." Ending the call, his eyes flickered over to the staircase. He left his breakfast and headed for Nico's bedroom. When he got to Nico's room, he stopped as he heard someone singing. It sounded like it was an MP3 version except Percy knew that the artist's voice wasn't as harmonious. It sounded as if Selena Gomez's  _Good for You_  was playing. Percy pressed his head against Nico's door. Percy then realized that it hadn't been an MP3 or anything else. It had been … Nico.

" _I'm in my marquis diamonds, I'm a marquis diamond_ " he heard Nico sing. Percy knew he was being rude, but he silently opened the door and stepped into Nico's room. Nico lay sprawled on his bed, headphones plugged into his smartphone as he sang with song. Percy smirked as Nico did a little seductive dance on his bed when he sang the chorus.

"' _Cause I just wanna look good for you, good for you, uh-huh, I just wanna look good for you, uh-huh,_

_Let me show you how proud I am to be yours,_

_Leave this dress a mess on the floor and still look good for you, uh-huh"_

Percy sat on Nico's bed, watching the younger boy intently. He had heard Nico's sister sing, but Nico sounded even better.

"Don't let her hear you say that," Nico mumbled. Percy hadn't realized he'd been speaking aloud. He gave Nico a sheepish grin.

"You do, though," Percy said. Nico rolled his eyes and propped himself up on his elbows.

"What do you want?" Nico asked.

"Luke called," Percy said. "He wants to know if you're up for hanging out with him." Nico eyed him funny for a minute.

"Is Apollo going to be there?" Nico asked. Percy's lips tilted down but shrugged.

"I'll call him and find out." Percy said. He dialed Luke's number and brought the phone to his ear. After it rang for the fourth time, the blond picked up.

"So, is he game?" Luke asked.

"Not sure," Percy said. "He wants to know if Apollo's going to be there."

"Oh, yeah, dude." Luke said. Percy brought the phone down.

"He's going to be there." Percy said. Nico considered this a moment, while Percy waited.

"No," he said. Percy frowned at this and went to say something, but Nico slipped on his headphones, promptly ending the conversation. Percy brought his phone to his ear.

"Hey, Luke, he doesn't want to go," Percy said. Nico began singing another song. It sounded like Demi Lovato's  _Nightingale_. Luke seemed to overhear Nico's singing.

"Why is he singing?" Luke asked, sounding angry. "He only sings when he's sad or feeling sorry for himself." Percy's eyes flickered over to Nico. He seemed to look fine.

"I don't know." Percy said. Luke grunted.

"Jackson, if you did anything to hurt him, you're dead." And just like that, Luke cut the call. Percy was a bit shaken up, but eyed the boy cautiously. He set his phone on the bed and reached out, touching Nico's arm. Nico sighed and his brown orbs flickered over to meet Percy's. He took of his headphones.

"Problem?" he asked.

"Well, that depends, Nico." Percy said. Nico gave him a questioning look. "Are you okay?"

"I guess so," Nico grumbled. Percy rolled his eyes.

"We both know that something's up with you. Come on, Nico. Tell me what's wrong." To Percy's surprise, Nico sat up and rested his head on Percy's shoulder. Percy fidgeted before he forged on.

"Well?" Percy asked. Nico sighed.

"Just, a bit … tired." Nico said, running a finger along Percy's arm. Of course this wasn't true. The next thing Percy knew, his hands did the weirdest thing. He promptly ripped Nico away from his shoulder and placed him on his back on the bed. Nico was in shock as his eyes widened.

"Don't lie to me, Nico." Percy said. "If you don't tell me what's wrong, I'll tickle it out of you." Nico scowled.

"You dare try and –" But that stopped as Percy began to tickle Nico's sides. The younger boy broke into fits of giggling and writhed beneath Percy.

"Finally!" Percy exclaimed, yet he did not stop. The tickles became more violent as Nico tried to get away but failed as Percy gripped Nico's arm. Percy stopped for Nico to catch his breath. Nico, however hard he tried, failed to scowl since he was so flustered.

"I hope you had fun," Percy whispered into Nico's ear. And the next thing that Percy did – was presumably involuntarily, but he couldn't help it – made Nico's body freeze up. Percy moved his face and softly pressed his lips to Nico's temple. Nico indeed froze and looked up at Percy questioningly. Percy shrugged, but didn't stop, he couldn't bring himself to. The sea-green eyed Adonis brought his lips to Nico's forehead. Nico didn't say anything, he just wrapped his arms around Percy's neck. Percy's couldn't help it, but he kissed Nico's lips heatedly. When Nico moaned, Percy used it as an opportunity to slip his tongue into the younger boy's mouth. Nico gasped as Percy straddled the boy, the green eyed boy immediately ceased. He got off of a frowning Nico.

"Shit, Nico, I- I'm sorry." Percy said. Nico studied Percy for a minute.

"What are you sorry for?" Nico asked. "I liked that."

"It's just that you and Apollo –" Percy stopped when Nico snorted cutely and began laughing.

"Seriously?" Nico asked. Percy pursed his lips and nodded. "Think  _nothing_  of what you saw. Apollo is an annoying idiot who thought he could take advantage of me while I was sad."

"What?" Percy asked, raising his voice. "I will castrate him!" Nico began laughing.

"No, my knight in shining armor," Nico said. "It's fine." Percy blushed a little.

"So then, I can do this, yes?" Percy asked. But before Nico could even quirk an eyebrow, Percy tackled him onto the bed, straddled him and slid his tongue into the younger boy's mouth. Percy was satisfied when Nico's moans filled the room. Percy began sucking on Nico's bottom lip and both of them came up for air. And just to stir things up, Percy got rid of his shirt and pressed his divine torso against Nico's clothed body. Percy began to violently attack Nico's lips again as Nico sighed into the kiss. However, Nico elicited a gasp when Percy ever so nicely decided to roll his hips against Nico's lower extremities. The sea-green eyed Adonis decided to get off of Nico – much to the younger boy's protest.

"What did I just do?" Percy asked, giving Nico a nice view of his torso. Nico blushed as he looked away. Percy was still shirtless, but he got onto the bed beside Nico and tugged Nico by the waist into his firm chest.

"You're so cute to hold," Percy whispered to Nico while he stroked Nico's hair. And Percy was sure Nico was enjoying the view since Nico nuzzled his nose into the crook of Percy's neck. Percy sighed contently as Nico said something.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Can we do this often?" Nico asked.

"Anytime, Nico." Percy chuckled.

Nico sighed as he loosened Percy's grasp around his waist.

"No!" Percy whined. Nico rolled his eyes.

"I need to go with Luke." Nico said.

"Oh, come on! Wouldn't you rather go with me?" Percy asked.

"Look, Percy," Nico began. "I would love to. Although, Luke is going to get suspicious and probably come here to find out what happened. I really don't want him to kill you. So, yeah." Saying that Percy felt like a kicked puppy was an understatement.

"Okay," Percy sighed.

"Great!" Nico beamed. He quickly got his smartphone and some other things. He tossed Percy a wave while he called Luke. Once Nico left, Percy pulled out his phone, searching for someone he wanted to call. Percy found it. He quickly dialed the number and at the second ring, she picked up.

"Hello?" the person asked.

"Hey, Annabeth." Percy said. "Wanna come over and spend some time with me doing … what we always do?" There was a slight squeal of joy on the other side of the line.

"Well, well, Mr. Jackson. Is anyone else going to be joining you today?" Annabeth asked.

"No, just you and me." Percy said.

"Great! I'll bring my best lingerie." Annabeth said.

Percy snorted. "Don't bother, Annabeth. It wouldn't matter when I rip it off of you during our … activities."

Annabeth chuckled. "True, see you in a bit, then."

Percy ended the call. It had been a long time since he did anything with his … playthings. And he just couldn't wait until Annabeth came over. There was definitely going to be some bed-rocking pleasure. He just hoped that no one caught them. Especially a certain brown-eyed boy.

* * *

 

The couple of hours spent with Annabeth really helped Percy relieve some unwanted stress. Heck, the bed nearly broke. But now, they both lay on his bed – naked. Percy leaned against the headboard and put an arm behind his head. Annabeth sighed in content as she sat up against the headboard, blanket falling off of her and revealing her rather desirable breasts to Percy.

"So," Annabeth said. "Are you gonna bring all the others back?"

Percy shrugged. "Guess so. I need some relief right now."

"Does he know?" Annabeth asked.

"No. and I'd like to keep it that way. At the moment, he thinks I'm interested in him." Came Percy's reply. Annabeth frowned.

"Well, if he finds out, then it's going to be a problem." Annabeth said. "I mean, I'm sure they all enjoy this and so do you, but … should he walk in on you –"

"He won't." Percy said sternly, his sea-green eyes glaring at Annabeth.

"Fine!" Annabeth huffed. She threw the covers off of her and walked to where her clothes were, pulling her jeans on and her blue tank top.

"I'm just saying, Percy." Annabeth said. "He  _is_ interested in you. It's only going to hurt more and, well, he has Luke on his side."

"Relax." Percy said. "I've been hiding it from my parents this long. What difference will it make if I have to hide it from another person?"

Annabeth sighed. "Whatever, Percy." She gathered the rest of her things and tossed Percy a wave as she walked out of the door. Percy sank lower into his bed. Getting his naked self out of bed, Percy lumbered over to his shower to clean himself up. After a good fifteen minutes of scalding water and searing steam, Percy made for his closet. He got some khaki shorts and a blue vest. Then, he went over to the dining hall to get something to eat. However, when he got there, he saw Annabeth talking to Rachel.

"Yeah, I was just with him." Annabeth said.

"I see. Well, I think you should leave the hotel before his parents or anyone else gets here." Rachel mumbled.

"Yeah, see ya. I have some history to catch up with." Annabeth said as she walked over to the elevator. It dinged open and Annabeth walked in.

"What was that about?" Percy asked.

"Oh, nothing. So, when are you planning to tell Nico about your little … ring?" Rachel asked. Percy's anger flared.

"I don't  _want_  to tell Nico! It's not like I'm freaking interested in the guy. Geez, Rachel. Get a grip. It's not like I like him or anything. People are just … there." Percy said. The redhead glared up at Percy.

"You fucking ass! You really need to look at what you're doing to him. If you push him in the wrong direction, who bloody knows what's going to happen?" Rachel yelled, standing up. "His father is one of the most powerful men in the world! He could literally take your father out with a snap of his fingers! Do  _not_  do this to him. He isn't a toy you can play with." With that, Rachel walked out of the dining room and exited the suite. Percy really needed to keep Nico away from him, but how? He had just made it very clear that he would like to be with Nico and now Percy just confused himself so much so, that his head felt discombobulated. Sure Percy really liked his … activities with his 'friends', but he didn't even stop to consider that Nico wouldn't want to have sex with him. Would he? Percy, you need you head read, Percy said to himself. Percy took a seat and pressed his head against the cool table.

"I really need to sort my life out." Percy mumbled to himself. Percy got up and walked out of the dining room to the elevator. When it dinged open, Percy got in and hit the button that would take him to the lobby. When the elevator dinged open again, Percy was greeted by Nyssa and Leo.

"What's up, guys?" Percy asked.

"Oh, just waiting on you. You're going to want to change out of those clothes and stuff. Your dad wants you to go with him to a meeting with Hades di Angelo." Nyssa said.

"Yep!" Leo piped in.

"Why?" Percy asked. "Wait, what about Nico?"

"Well, your dad wants you to be there  _with_ Nico, silly. You'll also be meeting Bianca and his wife, Maria." Nyssa continued. "So, you'd better be ready within three hours or so. Your mom will also be attending." Percy nodded.

"Okay, I'll head on back up. When will Nico be back?" Percy asked.

"Oh, he'll be up when he wants to. He's still out with Luke, Apollo and Jason." Nyssa said.

"Jason was there too?" Percy asked.

"Yeah. But, I think Luke wants to interrogate him. He wasn't doing too well earlier, but he'll be fine … I think." Leo said. Percy chuckled.

"Whatever. See you guys later." Percy said as he walked back to the elevator. However, he came to an abrupt halt when three familiar blonds and a blackhead walked in.

"Yo, Jackson!" Jason called, an arm wrapped around Nico's shoulders. Percy chuckled as he walked over to the group.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" Percy asked.

"Oh, nothing really," Apollo said.

"Just some time with Nico, here." Luke said.

"Yep," Jason said, all too cheery. However, through all of this, Nico said nothing, a frown marring his features.

"Whatever," Nico mumbled, prying himself from Jason's arm.

"Thanks for today, Luke." Nico said, walking over to the blond. Immediately Luke crushed Nico in a hug.

"No prob, Neeks." Luke said, eyeing Percy.

"Can't … breathe." Nico wheezed out. Luke chuckled, letting Nico.

"Hey, don't I get a hug?" Jason asked, pouting.

"Uh … sure." Nico walked over to Jason and was crushed in another hug. When Jason let Nico go, he gasped for air as if he were drowning. Nico walked over to stand next to Percy and Apollo looked as if he were going to explode – from anger or jealousy, Percy didn't know.

"What. About. Me?" Apollo ground out.

"Not happening." Nico said. Then, Nico stormed off to the elevator.

"Okay, see ya." Percy said. And with that, Percy walked over to the elevator, expecting to have a pleasant evening with Nico's family. Oh, how wrong he was.


	6. Meet The di Angelos

Nico really hated the idea of dinner with his parents. Sure, he loved them, but while Percy was there? No way. Sure he liked Percy and what they did earlier today, but Percy was just a distraction. In addition, Nico really needed to concentrate on school. However, Nico lost his train of thought as soon as the elevator dinged open.

"We need to get out," Percy said, smirking playfully.

"Yeah, whatever." Nico mumbled as he walked out of the elevator.

"Hey," Percy said, grabbing Nico's wrist. "What's up with you? I thought you liked me." Nico yanked his wrist away.

"I do," Nico said. "But what does that have to do with me not being nice to you? Besides, we need to get ready for the dinner – which, by the way, I really don't want to attend."

Percy frowned at the shorter boy. "You  _don't_  want to attend? Why, Nico?"

"I really don't want to go, okay? So, please, just leave me alone. I'm going to my room." With that, Nico stormed up the stairs. On his way up, Nico nearly tumbled back down the stairs if Percy hadn't caught him in his arms. In all honesty, Nico didn't want to explain to his parents why he was so cozy with Percy. Yes, his parents didn't know he was gay. Well, just another thing he would have to face later. Nico stared into those entrancing sea-green eyes, wanting nothing more than to crash their lips together. None of the abovementioned males obliged.

"Be careful, okay." Percy said, stroking Nico's hair.

"Yeah," Nico mumbled. Nico squirmed out of Percy's muscular grasp – could a grasp even be muscular? – And made his way up the stairs. Nico really needed to relax and spending dinner with his parents and a guy he liked was no method of relaxation. Nico finally reached his bedroom and dragged himself to his bed, flopping onto it when he reached it. Nico sighed, looking up at the ceiling, narrowing his eyes at nothing in particular. Why did he ever agree to going to ICDAT? Nico laid about for another hour before deciding to take a shower. When Nico was done, he shut the water off and toweled his hair. He wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped into his room only to nearly drop his towel to the floor. Percy was sitting on his bed in a blue dress up shirt – clinging to his arms and chest and abdomen in all the right places – and black formal pants that clung to his legs and butt in _all_ the right places. He had on a pair of formal shoes that only added to his sexy appearance, so much so that he had to bite his lip to keep himself from moaning. Damn Percy and his perfect body.

"I thought you'd take forever, Neeks." Percy said, a smirk tugging on his lips.

"Whatever," Nico huffed. "Could you please leave? I need to get dressed."

"Maybe I don't want to leave. Maybe I want to watch you strip and fulfill my lustful desires." Percy said seductively. Nico blinked a bit, unfazed by Percy's words.

"Percy?" Nico said, smiling sickeningly sweet and innocently.

"Hmm?" Percy muttered, eyeing Nico's towel.

"I am  _not_  a personal whore that you can fuck when you please."

"Wh-what?!" Percy yelled, standing up and walking to Nico – clearly angered by Nico's words.

"Oh, maybe you didn't understand." Nico said blankly. "I am interested in you, but contrary to what you think, I am not some cheap prostitute or whore. Really, Percy. Maybe you should consider fucking Annabeth so you can fulfill your lustful desires. I actually have a sense of worth."

"Y-you know?" Percy asked. For a moment, Percy thought Nico was going to smack Percy. However, Nico was utterly confused.

"Know what?" Nico asked.

"Never mind. I'm sorry if I made you feel worthless or whatever."

"Well," Nico said, "just don't say things like that to me. Perhaps if we were dating I would have permitted it. Clearly, we aren't, so you can't. Could you leave now?"

"O-oh." Percy muttered. He began to walk towards the door and turned to face Nico before he left.

"I really am sorry for speaking that way to you, Nico." Percy said his expression solemn. Nico smiled a small smile and nodded.

With that, Percy shut the door and Nico sighed as he flopped onto his bed, sighing again. Nico really didn't want to go, but he had to, or some serious shit would go down. Therefore, Nico dragged himself out of bed and worked on slipping on his jeans and tee. Yeah, it was casual. So what? Nico didn't give a shit. He really didn't like going to these things, so he got revenge through his clothing choice. Besides, he  _hated_  the Paparazzi. For all he knew, right now people thought he was cheating on Zac Efron with Justin Bieber. Apparently, going to the same celebrity wedding and talking for a few seconds makes you a couple worthy of the Paparazzi's lies. Seriously? Couldn't they go bother some dying star that didn't involve Nico's image being tainted with blemishes?

"Dammit." Nico mumbled while he was trying to force his lower body into his skinny jeans. Nico sighed weakly as he plopped himself onto his bed. Just then, Nico's phone went off. It was Apollo. What does that ass want now? Nico thought as he rejected the call. Nico set his phone down as he snuggled closer to his comforter. His phone rang again. Again, Nico rejected the call. There was a short interval of two minutes before the phone rang again, making the brown eyed boy growl. Nico huffed as he went to answer the phone.

"Leave me alone, dammit!" Nico grumbled.

"Um, Nico right? Please, calm down." Spoke a deep voice. It wasn't Apollo.

"You're asking  _me_  to calm down? Who the hell is this and how did you get a hold of me?" Nico demanded. He heard his door open and picked up his head to see Percy coming over to his bed.

"This is Will Solace – Apollo's cousin. I'm just calling because he asked me to ask you if he did something to annoy you." Will Solace said. Percy came and sat down next to Nico. The brown-eyed boy smiled at Percy and quickly scowled, remembering he was speaking to Will.

"Well, you can tell him that I really don't wanna talk about anything dealing with  _him_. And why the fuck should I explain myself to that ass, huh?" Nico demanded. "I am in no mood for his shit. He knows exactly what he did and if he can't remember, I don't give a shit."

"Yeah, but he said that he's really sorry and that he wants to be friends again –"

"Listen here, Will," Nico cut in, "I really don't want to get involved with someone who forces themselves onto me. Flirting is fine, but I promise you, if that bastard ever comes near me again, I will make sure I give him a one way ticket to hell!" and Nico slammed his phone onto his nightstand, instantly breaking the phone.

"Whoa there, Nico." Percy said, pulling the shorter boy into a hug. Percy buried his hair nose into Nico's hair, breathing in his scent.

"You okay?" Percy asked.

"Yeah," Nico mumbled into Percy's muscular chest. "Why are you so nice and comforting, Percy?"

"What do you mean?" Percy asked, releasing Nico from his grasp.

"You're so nice to me. Even after, I practically told you to fuck off earlier. You're in here, being comforting. Why?" Nico asked.

Percy smirked, and then he chuckled. "Oh, Nico, Nico. Why wouldn't I? You're so cute and sexy." Nico blushed a bit, but kept his composure under control.

"You coming to the dinner?" Percy asked.

"Yeah," Nico said, letting his gaze fall from Percy's. "I just … I don't like going to these things. As soon as I bump into an old friend, the Paparazzi's there, asking if we've had sex or something."

"Why would they ask something like that? That usually … doesn't happen." Percy mumbled.

"Oh, it does when the other person forcefully kisses you and tries to get you out of your clothes in public – while they're drunk." Nico said.

"Wow …" Percy said. "That's happened to you? Well, you're more of a celebrity than I am."

Nico chuckled. "Yeah. The Paparazzi now thinks that Zac Efron and I are dating. That is annoying. He was drunk and he thought he could have his way with me – he did not. Charon was there to help and boy, did he beat him up good! But, yeah, a lot happened ever since."

"Oh," Percy said. "Well, are you okay? I'll explain if you –"

"It's fine, Percy. Really, I'll be there." Nico said, smiling. "Uh, we need to get going now."

"Hmm? Oh, yeah." Percy said. The sea green eyed boy stood abruptly and walked to the door.

"You coming, Nico?" Percy asked.

Nico blinked. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, just thinking about something." Nico grabbed his wallet. The raven-haired boy walked over to Percy and closed the door behind him.

* * *

 

Nico watched carefully as he stood in the hotel lobby and his family walked through the hotel entrance. His father looked the same as he did a month – or so – ago. His mom, still as beautiful as ever. She was a rather beautiful with warm brown eyes, slightly pale skin and hair as black as night. She wore a beautiful and silky evening gown the shade of vermillion. It looked good on her, well; every color looked good on Nico's mother. Especially since his family was mainly of Italian descent. Thinking back, Sally was the complete opposite of his mom. That night, she let her beautiful brown hair down, curls dancing about her shoulders. She wore an elegant knee-length dress the shade of azure – a lot like Jason's beautiful eyes, especially while staring at them before they were about to ––

"Nico!" a feminine voice cried out. Nico stopped his train of thought to find the source of the voice. It was Nico's older sister – Bianca. She was beautiful, just like their mother. The same warm brown eyes and black hair. She wore a strapless black dress that stopped short of her knees. Along the upper edges of her dress was a white sash, making it look a little more stylish and less like an outfit one would wear to a funeral. Suddenly, Nico was crushed in his sister's grasp.

"Hi … to … you … too." Nico gasped in between words.

"Is that  _all_  you have to say to your loving sister?" Bianca asked, pouting. Nico heard Percy chuckle but was silenced when Nico shot him a glare.

"Well, for now." Nico said. Bianca huffed as she walked back to her mom and dad.

"Ah, Nico. My darling, how are you doing?" Nico's mom asked.

"Mamma! I've missed you so much," Nico, said giving his mom a warm hug. His father coughed in the distance.

"And you too, Pappa." Nico mumbled. Hades smiled. Poseidon cleared his throat. Nico had to give it to the men tonight. His father wore a black suit and combed his hair to the side. Poseidon wore a navy blue suit and really did not bother about his hair. However, Poseidon's smile was set to  _Extra Bright_  today. Huh, so that is where Percy gets his smile from, Nico thought.

"Sorry to cut this little family reunion short," Poseidon interrupted, "but we need to get to the restaurant. Our reservation is for eight pm."

"Ah, yes." Hades said. "Shall we take our limo or yours?"

"Preferably the larger one," Poseidon answered.

"Comfort is better for the kids," Sally piped in happily.

"Oh, come on mom. We're not that little." Percy groaned. Sally smiled mischievously.

"And  _who_  is this?" Bianca asked, walking to Percy and offering him her hand. Percy kissed her knuckles and smiled at her.

"I'm Percy. I take it you are Bianca. You are more beautiful than Nico described. As are you, Mrs. di Angelo." Both di Angelo woman smiled appreciatively.

"Thank you, Percy." Maria said.

"Percy, I blame you if we're late." Nico grumbled. Everyone laughed.

"Alright, we should definitely leave now." Poseidon said.

"Yes, we should. Argus is waiting outside." Hades said. With that, everyone walked towards the revolving doors.

"You have a nice family," Percy said to Nico. Nico smiled at Percy.

"Yeah." Nico said. "I definitely do."

* * *

 

The ride to the restaurant was long and annoying, with Bianca fawning over Percy as if, she had not seen any other gorgeous people. Nico rolled his eyes at her as she said something about Percy's "cute butt" and "sexy body". Really? Is this what the middle child is like after not seeing the youngest child for a couple of months? Nico missed their oldest sibling – Thanatos. He was the best big brother Nico could ever ask for. He had a slight tan, crystal blue eyes and he was very muscular, yet lean. Well Nico knew about the muscular part. Whenever Nico cried, Thanatos was there, comforting him and telling him everything would be okay. He had amazing brown hair and a strong jawline. Actually, thinking about it, Thanatos actually looked very similar to Brent Rivera – his doppelganger, if you will. No minor  _or_  major differences between them at all. Thanatos even combed his hair the exact same way Brent does. Huh, Nico thought. Lucky me.

**…**

One day, Nico was walking in the park with Thanatos after enjoying some ice cream before calling Argus. The weather was moderate, sun shining, birds singing and other fun springtime animal sounds. Nico was twelve – so just a couple of years ago, really. Thanatos must have been sixteen. Thanatos looked down at Nico and smiled a bright smile. Nico rolled his eyes.

"I'm not a toddler anymore, you know." Nico said.

"I know," Thanatos said. "But come on, I don't smile at anyone else the same way I smile at you. Usually the girls start fainting and stuff."

"A bit egotistical, don't you think, brother dear?" Thanatos chuckled. "Besides, I'm not a girl."

"Yeah, yeah." Thanatos said, ruffling Nico's hair for good measure.

"Hands off!" Nico whined. Thanatos laughed. Music, Nico thought.

"Aw, sorry Neeks." Thanatos said, smirking. "I didn't know you were trying to look good for me." Nico rolled his eyes again.

"Whatever," the brown-eyed boy huffed. "Can we go home, now? I'm tired." Thanatos' demeanor changed to seriousness instantly. He nodded and pulled out his phone, dialing Argus' number.

"Good day, Argus." Thanatos greeted. "Could you please come pick us up? We just got out of Central Park and we're now by the café we always visit." Thanatos paused and listened to Argus speak.

He nodded. "It's fine, see you then." Thanatos said, ending the call. "He'll be in fifteen minutes or so. Care to have something to eat?"

"Um, sure." Nico said.

The crossed the street and went into the café. It was a cozy little café in a street corner, with outside tables and amazing coffee. Nico really loved going there with his family. As they walked in to the place, a familiar face greeted them.

"Well, hello boys!" A dark-skinned girl greeted. It was Hazel. She had beautiful curly golden hair, a pair of beautiful brown eyes and an amazing smile. She had on a dull turquoise knee-length dress and a white apron. The color really suited. Honestly, many colors suited her skin.

"Hi, Hazel." Nico greeted. "How are you?"

"I'm all good." She said as she wiped the nearest table.

"How's Frank?" Nico asked. Hazel's cheeks looked as if they darkened for a second and disappeared just as soon as it appeared.

"He's great." She said nervously.

"I'll bet." Nico said, grinning.

"So, what'll be?"

"Well," Thanatos said, "How about we just get a coffee and a latte to go? Out driver will be here soon." Hazel nodded.

"You can have a seat. I'll be back with your order in a couple of minutes." Both boys nodded and took a seat.

"So, when are you leaving?" Nico asked his face crestfallen.

Thanatos' smile wavered. "Soon. I am sorry, Nico. But, we're all going to go to college one day."

Nico nodded. "Yeah. I'm just going to miss you. Besides, we're not all super smart like  _some_  people. Well, aside from defending me all the time and fighting with Luke and being what a big brother usually is, I still think it isn't fair. It's just … sad."

"It's not forever, Nico. I'll be back before you know it." Thanatos said, smiling warmly.

**…**

Nico was so lost in thought for such a long time, he didn't even notice Percy trying to get his attention. Lightly tanned, sea-scented fingers snapped in front of Nico's face.

"Huh? What?" Nico said.

"Oh, are you alright, dear?" Maria asked, concerned.

"Yeah. You zoned out on us for a good fifteen minutes." Percy said.

"Oh," Nico said in a small voice. Nico said nothing further and everyone – even Bianca – dropped the subject. Nico just rested his chin in his palm and stared out the window.

A couple of minutes later, the limousine came to a stop outside a five-star restaurant. The board above the entrance read,  _Olympus Cuisine._  In addition, the press was already there. Seriously? Why were they everywhere? No movie star, pop star or rich family was left alone – at all. The building rose five stories high into the night and lit up by decent incandescent lights. They all got out of the limousine and greeted by the roar of the crowd. Just like school, there were multiple security guards forcing the crowd into two separate groups on either side of the red carpet that led to the entrance. Their parents got out of the limousine first and smiled brightly. Next Bianca got out and there was a mixture of roars from guys and screams from girls. Percy was next and the only thing heard was the high-pitched squealing of girls. Lastly, Nico filed out of the limo as it drove away. There was a collective gasp at his outfit and then the loudest cheer went up into the night as Nico strutted his way to the restaurant doors. He spun around and blew the crowd a kiss. Some girls fainted while some guys tried to reach out and grab Nico. Yeah, they could not. Nico walked into the restaurant and caught his breath. A single red carpet led to the host's stand – where his parents already were. On either side of the red carpet were multiple tables that could easily seat up to eight people. The décor was simple yet expensive and elegant. In addition, the fountains in between tables were amazing. Someone played a piano in the background over many conversations.

"Still can't resist flaunting, I see." A familiar voice spoke from behind Nico. When the raven-haired boy spun around to see whom it came from, it was none other than his best and only oldest brother – Thanatos. Nico gasped and ran across the short space between them into his open arms and – still – very muscular chest.

"Well, hello to you too." Thanatos said. Nico held on tight as Thanatos buried his nose into Nico's hair. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Nico said, staring up into those familiar blue eyes. Thanatos held out his arm and Nico looped his through the brown-haired boy's. They finally found where there family sat at – with the Jacksons, of course – and they sat together across Hades and Maria. Nico noticed Percy scowl at the two of them, grumbling to himself, but paid him no mind. Bianca smirked at them. She always knew how close they were and even though she was also very close to Thanatos, Nico got most of his affection.

"So who are we here with, dad?" Thanatos asked, opening a bottle of wine.

"Ah, this is Poseidon, Sally and Percy Jackson. Our newest business associates and friends. I hope you get along with them as much as Nico does." Hades answered.

Thanatos smiled charmingly at the Jacksons and made small talk before returning to his dad.

"Yes, so what has changed since I left for Yale?" Thanatos asked, sipping some wine.

"Well," Maria began, "Nico opened up a lot more charities, a new family foundation and was assisting Pluto for his campaign for governor. Aside from that, he helped your father and I create the latest logo for the company, assisted me with my latest fashion range, featured in some of Bianca's songs in her latest album –  _di Angelo Untamed._  Oh, and he's now living with the Jacksons in their hotel penthouse since he wanted to go to a school instead of being tutored."

"Wow." Percy said. Maria nodded. "He does a lot. How come?"

"Oh, that's because –" Nico began but was soon cut off by Thanatos.

"Because he thinks he's  _it_  ever since I left for college." The brown-haired boy said, chuckling a bit. Nico rolled his.

"You know exactly why, Thanatos." Nico grumbled. The di Angelos and the Jacksons chuckled at Nico's expression as the raven-haired boy sank further into his chair.

"We're only joking, Neeks. Loosen up a little." Thanatos said soothingly. Nico smiled at his brother and slapped on the arm. Thanatos feigned a pained expression but soon chuckled when Nico stole his glass of wine and took a sip.

"You do know that was mine, right?" Thanatos asked.

"Yep," Nico said, handing the glass back to his brother, giggling a bit. "But you deserved it." Thanatos rolled his eyes but smiled anyway. He then turned his attention to the rest of the group.

"Mr. Jackson," Thanatos said. "What do you do?"

"Firstly, don't call me Mr. Jackson. That's my father." Poseidon said. Nico was the first one to start with the giggling and the rest of the group joined in with light chuckles.

"I am the CEO and founder of Lotus Hotel and Casino." Poseidon said.

"Ah, yes. I've stayed at one of your hotels in Europe. Lovely experience, really." Thanatos said.

"Yes and my lovely wife over here is a novelist." Poseidon said.

"I know. I actually got Bianca one of your books for her sixteenth birthday. I'm sure she was … intrigued." Thanatos said, stifling a laugh.

Sally chuckled. "Well,  _Viva la Romance_!" She said, raising a glass. Thanatos soon joined. There was a lovely atmosphere while they waited for their waiter. Almost everyone got on amazingly with Thanatos – everyone except Percy that is. For some reason, he barely uttered a word after they talked about what Nico had done while Thanatos was away. Finally, their waiter arrived. He was a kindly young man with curly blond hair and cerulean blue eyes that Nico recognized all too well. The blond noticed and an evil smirk spread across his face. Percy looked up and noticed him as well, but did nothing and trained his eyes of Nico instead.

"Well, hi there, Nico." He said. As soon as he spoke, Nico immediately grabbed Thanatos' left hand and locked it in a vice grip.

"Apollo." Nico said coldly.

"You know this young gentleman, Nico?" Thanatos asked.

"Oh, we do. We go to the same school together." Apollo said, eyeing the spot where Nico held Thanatos' hand. "And I see you've denied me because you have someone else."

Nico glared hatefully at Apollo. However, Thanatos spoke before Nico could.

"Perhaps we should get another waiter," Thanatos suggested to everyone at the table, making Nico loosen his grip around Thanatos' hand.

"Yes," Hades said. "We request another waiter. Would you be so kind as to –"

"No!" Apollo said. "Nico denied me for  _him_!" Apollo said, gesturing wildly at Thanatos.

"Look here," Poseidon, said, "We don't want any arguments or anything breaking out. So please send us another waiter."

"I think that would be best." Maria said calmly. "Besides, Nico has never dated anyone and I doubt he'll start with his brother. Moreover, I don't think he's homosexual. Perhaps he may have used some indications that have misled you to believe so, but I doubt he and his brother are in a romantic relationship."

"Yes, I think you should leave, young man. Before you cause any more trouble. Perhaps if you walk away now, we won't say or do anything." Hades said, slightly annoyed now.

"Have you looked at the way he's holding that guy's hand?!" Apollo yelled, getting the attention of other customers around them.

"That's just a habit he has if he feels nervous, afraid or that he might do something he'll regret." Thanatos said sternly. "Now, please. Stop insinuating that my brother and I are both involved romantically and get us another waiter."

"Nico, why don't you, Percy and Bianca take a walk to the fifth floor?" Sally suggested. "Perhaps this young gentleman would behave less erratically if you weren't here at the moment."

"No!" Apollo yelled again. "I want him to know how he hurt me when he told me to go away and that he never wanted to see me again."

"You deserved it." Nico said his voice deathly calm. "After what you did, not even P–– other people who like me do what you did. So please, send us another waiter. Now."

"Nico." Thanatos said, his voice festering with anger. "What. Did. He. Do?"

"Thanatos, you don't –" Nico began.

"I tried to fuck him." Apollo said, smirking maniacally. "But he told me 'St-stop', yet he just couldn't stop moaning while I was on him."

"Mind your language! Nico?" the brown-eyed boy turned to see his mother's expression. "Is this true?"

"Mamma, Pappa, I swear to you. We didn't do anything because –"

"Because he loves his  _brother_!" Apollo yelled, slamming his fist on the table. "I'm sure he just can't wait to be fucked by him tonight."

Hades was tired of this, as was Poseidon. Hades signaled for the host when he finally entered the room and the host left to get security.

"Why, Nico? Why?! I could have given you the best time of your life!" Apollo bawled. "You're the only one who turned down my advances! Why couldn't you just let me have you?"

The next couple of things that happened went by in a flash. Thanatos stood up and punched Apollo square in the jaw. Apollo stumbled to the floor and most of the customers began to divert their attention to the scene. Apollo looked up from the floor in utter shock. His jaw hurt like hell and he had to hold it to stop it from hanging. He looked up at his attacker who glared at him so coldly that even hell would have frozen over.

"Don't you ever talk to my brother like that again or you'll have more than a dislocated jaw." Thanatos spat venomously. When Thanatos turned to look at the group, Nico nearly had a heart attack. The look in Thanatos' eyes scared Nico out of his skin. Nico had never seen Thanatos that angry. Ever. However, as soon as Thanatos saw Nico's expression, his gaze softened. After a couple of minutes, the host came with two security guards. Apparently, this hadn't been the first time Apollo argued with a customer. There had been several other times where Apollo attempted to hurt a customer. This time, Nico was lucky the moment his brother stepped in. it was a chaotic night, so they all agreed to have dinner at the Jackson penthouse.

* * *

 

Nico sat in the beverage area of the restaurant on a couch that was near the bar. Soon, his brother joined him. Nico smiled at Thanatos as the brown-haired young man took a seat next to Nico and Nico hugged him. Thanatos smiled as he hugged his little brother around his waist.

"You okay?" Thanatos asked as Nico laid his head on Thanatos lap.

"Yeah." Nico said, looking up at his brother. "Just … irritated by what Apollo did."

Thanatos ran his hand through his hair and his scent hit Nico full in the nose.

"You still smell like peppermint." Nico remarked. Thanatos smirked.

"Really?" He asked. "Well, I like it."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Whatever." Nico heard Thanatos chuckle.

"You know … you're still the same as I remember you. You even look the same." Nico said.

"What can I say? I have that effect on people who fall for me." Thanatos said, smirking playfully. Nico punched Thanatos in the abdomen but quickly withdrew with a hiss.

"Dimmit, Thanatos! It isn't fair that I can't hurt you." Nico whined.

"Not my fault I'm super muscular." Thanatos said, putting his arms behind his head. Nico huffed, but smiled anyway. Soon, Percy came to sit with them. Nico was the first to notice him.

"Oh, hey, Percy." Nico said, smiling.

"Hey Neeks." Percy greeted. "May I?" He asked Thanatos.

"Sure." Said Thanatos. Percy lifted Nico's legs of the couch, sat down and set the brown-eyed boy's legs on his lap.

"So …" Percy said.

"So?" Nico asked.

"Is your family staying at the hotel until they leave?" Percy asked.

Nico looked up at Thanatos who smiled warmly.

"I guess so," Nico said with a little giggle. Thanatos rolled his eyes at Nico.

"Still drunk I see." Thanatos chided.

"Whatever." Nico huffed. "Where's Bianca?"

"Right here!" Bianca said. "Damn, Neeks. You have all the guys fawning over you. Luckily, mom and dad still think you're straight." Nico fixed her with a glare as she sat next to Percy.

"It's such a shame that  _you_  don't, Bianca. Really, I do feel for you. But then again, I'm not in your position." Nico shot back.

Percy chuckled. "You should see the way Luke defends him in school."

"Percy, I swear, if you don't shut up –" Nico began.

"Luke?" Thanatos asked. "He's still around? That's good."

"Well, then. We should pay him a visit. Haven't seen him since I released  _Infinity_." Bianca said as she began humming a faintly familiar tune.

"Ah, there you are children." Maria called from a few inches away. "We're leaving now. Would you care to join us so I can eat?" Nico, being slightly drunk, began giggling. Thanatos chuckled, as did Bianca and Percy.

"Oh, and Thanatos?" Maria called.

"Yes mother?"

"Be a darling and bring Nico to the limousine. I doubt he can walk in this state." Maria said.

"Hey!" Nico said, but all he could here was his mother's faint chuckling as she walked out of the beverage area. Bianca and Percy stood and waited for Nico and Thanatos.

"Right then, Nico. You need to get up now, or I will carry you." Thanatos said.

"But, I don't want to be carried." Nico whined.

"I will if you can't. You know I will, Nico. Don't test me." Thanatos shot back playfully.

Nico huffed, but didn't move. So without any effort, Thanatos picked Nico up – bridal style – much to the younger boy's protest and began walking.

"Thanatos! Why?" Nico complained as he held on to Thanatos' neck and he heard Percy and Bianca chuckle.

"Because you refused to walk." He said.

Nico sighed and instead of fighting, he just snuggled closer to his brother's (very) muscular chest, which he loved (very, very) much and fell into a deep sleep in Thanatos' (very, very, very strong) arms.


	7. Percy Is Desperate For Nico, But Nico Isn't For Percy

Percy was really tired of waiting to get Nico in his bed. So, he did the obvious. He called up one of his playthings. Well, the one he liked the most was Annabeth, so she was his first choice. And she said yes. So, they were currently in Percy's bed and Annabeth was gasping and moaning as Percy thrust into her relentlessly, not even stopping to regain his strength. Well, when Percy was in bed, he was a machine. Percy leaned down and pressed himself against Annabeth as he sped up his thrusts into her.

Percy attacked her lips and didn't even bother grazing his tongue against her lips to ask permission. He stuck his tongue down her throat as he slid in and out of her with much speed and unwavering strength. Annabeth moaned loudly while Percy attempted to kiss her passionately, stopping their kisses short. Percy was in overdrive as he fucked Annabeth senseless. The poor girl couldn't do anything but moan as loudly as she possibly could. Her usual intelligent brain was probably befuddled so badly that her mind probably yelled:

_HARDER! HARDER! FASTER! FASTER!_

And apparently Percy was a mind reader because that's exactly what he did. Percy held Annabeth by her hips in a firm grasp as he thrust deeper into her, harder than the last time. Annabeth was sure enjoying it. The pain  _and_  the pleasure. Percy left her lips, failing to kiss her properly and began biting down harshly on her neck. Harsh enough to leave a mark. Annabeth arched her back as Percy slid out of her and waited for a few seconds before he slammed back into her with so much force that the headboard cracked and Annabeth screamed in absolute pleasure. Percy quickly covered her mouth fearing that Nico and Thanatos might overhear them, but didn't stop thrusting into the blonde beneath him.

Being relentless in bed was one thing, but having stamina  _and_  being relentless in bed were both Percy's specialties. They had been in bed for around forty minutes and Percy hadn't released himself into Annabeth yet. Unfortunately, because they were having rough and aggressive sex, Annabeth was nearing her climax. Quite frankly, they hadn't had sex like this in a while. Usually it wasn't as aggressive, yet there was stamina. Today, Percy must've been angry or something so much so, that the smartest girl in ICDAT was rendered almost stupid. With Percy rocking his hips like he had inner strength he never used before, what else could you expect?

Finally, Annabeth let herself reach orgasmic bliss and moaned even louder than she ever did. Percy thrust relentlessly into her a few more times before he finally released himself too. Percy moaned above Annabeth as he slowed down his thrusts and pulled out of the blonde girl. He pulled off his condom and tossed it the nearby trash and flopped his sweaty body on the bed next to his blonde plaything. She was currently gasping like she was drowning, but Percy didn't really care. He felt good. And this was what he really needed.

"That was the best sex ever." Annabeth said finally, pausing to catch her breath between words. Percy smirked.

"I'll bet." Percy placed an arm behind his sweaty head and exhaled a breath of satisfaction.

"I … I don't think I can walk just yet." Annabeth said. Percy shrugged.

"It doesn't really matter if you stay, you know that. I'm going to take a shower. I'll be back in twenty minutes." Percy got off the bed and walked towards his closet. He grabbed his towel and headed for the shower. Percy got in and turned the water on. He really did feel good and enjoyed today's sex. Quite frankly, he hadn't been taking out his anger in any form whatsoever for a couple of months now, so this really help him. Percy relaxed as the warm water ran down his body. He rolled his shoulder blades and let the water soothe his entire body. Percy grabbed some shampoo and squirted some of the substance onto his scalp and began lathering off his hair. Next, he used some body wash and cleaned himself up. True to his word, Percy was done in approximately twenty minutes and exited the bathroom to find Annabeth slipping her blue tank top on.

"Hey, Percy. I have to go now." Annabeth said.

She grabbed her smartphone and headed out of Percy's room quietly. Even though it was the middle of Saturday, no one was home. Well, except for Nico and Thanatos, that is. Percy went into his closet and grabbed a pair of blue jeans and a black tee. He slipped them on and toweled his hair. When he was done, he headed out of his room to Nico's. He stopped short of the door when he heard giggling. He decide to knock anyway. After a few seconds, there was some shuffling and Nico opened the door.

"Oh, hey, Percy! What's up?" Nico asked. Today he wore an extra tight black jeans and a black tee, showing off his pale skin. Before Percy could answer, Thanatos came to the door and rested his arms on Nico's shoulders. He had on one of those shirts that looked silky, but felt as soft as cotton and was a dull shade of azure. Well, he  _was_  really muscular. No wonder Apollo's jaw was dislocated when Thanatos punched him. He wore a pair of normal black jeans and just had a pair of navy blue socks on.

"Uh, nothing really. Just wondering if I could hang with you guys. I'm really bored." Percy said.

"Sure, Percy." Thanatos said. Nico skipped back to his bed and flopped onto it. "You coming in?"

"Oh, yeah." Percy said. He walked in as Thanatos closed the door behind him. Thanatos walked over to the bed and joined Nico. The brown-eyed boy snuggled closer to Thanatos and Percy couldn't help but feel a pang of irritation and slight jealousy. Even though they weren't romantically involved in anyway, Percy couldn't explain why, but he just did. However, Percy was sure that if he tried to do anything, Thanatos would probably kill him. Literally. Percy sat at the edge of the bed and really didn't say much.

"So, what was Yale like?" Nico asked.

Thanatos chuckled. "It was fun. I'm finally done with my degree in Business Economics so, I'll have more time for you guys." Nico beamed at his older brother.

"Didn't you complain that smiling hurt your face?" Thanatos asked.

Nico frowned immediately. "If you don't want to see me smile, it's fine."

Thanatos' eyes widened momentarily and then he chuckled. "Nico, you know I love it when you smile. It's a rare occasion for you and I'm sure you smiled a lot when I was away."

"You know me too well, brother dear." Nico deadpanned. Thanatos wrapped an arm around Nico and Percy felt as if he were going to explode. He did his best to keep his cool, though. Nico giggled.

"Why are you so quiet, Percy?" Nico mumbled from Thanatos' chest. Percy blinked.

"Oh, I didn't want to interrupt." Percy said. Nico peeked at Percy from behind Thanatos' chest. It was really cute.

"How … thoughtful of you." Nico said. Thanatos began laughing. Percy frowned.

"Was he really this nice to you while he stayed here?" Thanatos asked, turning his blue gaze to Percy.

"Well … when he wanted to be, I guess." Percy said. Thanatos chuckled.

"Yeah, he's only nice to the people who he thinks deserves his niceness. Luckily, I'm one of those lucky people." Thanatos said heartily. Nico pouted.

"I hate you sometimes, you know that?" Nico mumbled to Thanatos.

"Aw, c'mon, Neeks. I know that deep down inside that little black heart – which you  _claim_  to have – you love me." Thanatos said, wrapping both arms around Nico. Nico hummed in content. Percy was a bit shocked at first, but being the outspoken, loud person he is, he asked the question anyway.

"Um, guys? I hope you don't mind my asking, but, are you guys … involved with each other – romantically?" Percy asked, a bit afraid of any one of their reactions. Thanatos chuckled genuinely while Nico rolled his eyes and turned away from the older males.

"No, Percy." Thanatos said. "Nico and I aren't  _in_  love with each other. He just gets most of my affection ever since … well, ever since he was little."

"Oh." Percy said. Nico got up and walked over to the bathroom. "What's he doing?"

"Nico? Oh, he just wants some alone time. I understand why, but he's never done that when I was around. I don't complain, I just let him be." Thanatos answered, as he got up and walked over to Nico's desk to grab his phone. He dialed a number and hit the caller button.

"Hey, B. When are you guys getting back here? Nico's doing it again." Thanatos paused listening to 'B' speak and nodded. Soon, he cut the call and laid down on the bed again.

"Does Nico still have his smartphone?" Thanatos asked. "I was trying to call him the day I got back, but he never answered. So, I was worried about him."

"Um, no. He broke it." Percy said cautiously.

" _What_? Why?" Thanatos demanded.

"The day of the dinner … some guy called for Apollo and said that Apollo was sorry and that he wanted to be friends again. Yeah, Nico didn't take it too well because of what Apollo did." Percy answered. Thanatos was silent for a moment. Then, he pulled out his smartphone and called someone.

"Hi. Yes, I would like to purchase a smartphone on contract. You can use the funds in my bank account as payment." Thanatos paused, listening to the person on the other side of the line speak. "The best you've got. An iPhone would do fine. Yeah, I don't mind if it's the most expensive, just have it delivered to the Lotus Hotel and Casino for a Thanatos di Angelo. Great, see you in fifteen minutes." Thanatos ended the call and let out a small breath. They sat in comfortable silence for ten minutes or so before Percy decided to speak.

"You're getting Nico a phone in  _fifteen_ minutes?" Percy asked. Thanatos smirked, his pink lips looking divine.

"Yes. Styx Cellular Services, very efficient." Thanatos said, smiling. Then he frowned.

"Nico?" he called. "Are you alright? It's been, like, fifteen minutes, Neeks. Have you fainted or something?" When there was no reply, Thanatos walked over to the bathroom door. He knocked and waited. Again no reply. Thanatos pressed his ear to the door and tried to see if he could hear anything.

Thanatos got tired of waiting, so he opened the door. Percy quickly followed behind so he could get help if anything was wrong. The problem was that … nothing was wrong. Nico just sat on the floor, with his knees against his face. It sounded like he was crying.

"Nico?" Thanatos called again. "Are you alright?" Nico didn't say anything. He just exhaled slightly, but said nothing. Thanatos sighed as he sat down in from of Nico.

"You wanna talk about it?" Thanatos asked.

"I just … I'm tired of Apollo's antics." Nico mumbled. "And I'm sick and tired of people thinking that we're dating or that we're in love."

This time, Thanatos didn't even crack a joke. He simply nodded. When Thanatos didn't say anything, Nico looked up at the two other males in the room. His eyes were red and puffy from crying and the circles around his eyes seemed to appear out of nowhere. Percy felt sorry for Nico, but only because he wanted sex. Other than that, he really didn't care. Okay, maybe a small part of him did, but it didn't mean that he liked the brown-eyed boy. Then again, it wasn't like Percy could have him. Nico wasn't interested in that kind of relationship. Thanatos didn't say much. He just stood to his full height and offered his little brother a hand for him to grasp. Nico obliged. Immediately, Thanatos yanked the smaller boy into his muscular arms. Nico sighed into the hug and his body seemed to grow limp in his brother's arms. When Nico let regained his composure, he smiled at his brother. Thanatos reached down with his fingers and wiped away Nico's tears.

"Thank you, Thanatos." Nico said, looking up at his brother.

"Always and forever, Neeks." Thanatos said. They broke their hug and Nico looped his arm through his brother's. All three of them walked out of the bathroom back into Nico's bedroom.

"Well," came Rachel's voice. It startled Percy and Nico but not really Thanatos. "I hope there wasn't a threesome going on in there. Knowing Percy, it probably was." Percy shot her a warning glare and Rachel only giggled. And then she laid her eyes on Thanatos and nearly fainted. Well, no one bothered to catch her so she did her best to regain her composure.

"My, oh, my, Nico. Who do we have here?" Rachel said, unconsciously licking her lips.

"Oh, um, Rachel. Meet my brother Thanatos. Thanatos, Rachel. She's Percy's dad's secretary. And no, Rachel, we're not dating or any shit of that sort."

"Well, that leaves more room for me." Rachel practically purred as she walked over to the trio.

"Sorry," Thanatos said, kissing Rachel's knuckles, drawing a deep blush from the read-haired girl. "I'm kinda taken." Rachel pouted.

"That's not fair. Someone like you should be shared." Rachel whined. She blushed when she heard Percy and Nico chuckle. Rachel cleared her throat.

"Anyway, I came up here to give you this. It was delivered to reception a few minutes ago. For you, Thanatos, from Styx Cellular Services." Rachel said.

"Ah, it's here." Thanatos beamed. "Thank you, Rachel." Rachel nodded and waved goodbye as she walked out of the bedroom into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

"Why are you getting a new phone?" Nico asked. "I thought you already had one."

Thanatos chuckled. "No, silly. It's for you. Here, take it." The brown-haired boy said, handing Nico the package.

"WH-what? Thanatos, you didn't have to. You know full well that I can –"

"Just take it. I'm sure you'll love it." Thanatos said, grinning. Nico obliged. He opened up the parcel and found a charger, a new pair of earphones and the latest iPhone!

"Oh, Thanatos!" Nico said, throwing himself at his older brother. "How did you even know I broke the other one?"

"Percy told me." Thanatos said, stroking Nico's hair gently. Nico looked at Percy and shot him an appreciative smile – a genuinely appreciative smile. And for Percy, that was the best thing ever. Well, no, perhaps he felt just a little less jealous.

* * *

 

"Say cheese!" Nico exclaimed as he captured a picture with Thanatos. The flash went off and Nico immediately viewed the picture.

"I just love  _CandyCam_!" Nico said.

"Yeah, I do too. Now could we please stop with the selfies? My skin can't take it anymore." Thanatos joked.

"Yes, please do, Nico. It's becoming increasingly irritating." Percy piped in.

They were currently in the private living room and Nico was in Thanatos' lap while Thanatos peeked over Nico's – delectable – shoulder to look at the pictures. Thanatos had his arm around Nico's waist and Percy had to admit:

He was very jealous (for no specific reason) and,

He really didn't like Thanatos that much because he was  _way_  closer to Nico than Luke – or anyone else for that matter.

"You still smell like peppermint." Nico said, as he dropped his phone onto the couch they were sitting on and snuggled closer to Thanatos' chest.

"I know." Thanatos said. "I like it."

"Hmm," Nico hummed. "I do too."

Thanatos chuckled. Suddenly, Percy's phone went off. Percy brought it out of his pocket and answered.

"Hello?" Percy spoke.

"Hey, Percy" a feminine voice spoke on the other line.

"Oh, hi Piper. What can I do for you?" Percy asked.

"Jason and I wanted to drop by. We're bored. Do you mind?" she asked.

"No, not at all." Percy said.

"Great, because we're here." Piper said as the elevator dinged open in the hallway. Percy excused himself and navigated to the entrance and was greeted by the blond and Cherokee duo.

"Hey guys!" Percy said happily.

"Hey, Jackson." Jason said. "What you been up to, bro?"

"Nothing really. Nico's family is staying at the hotel for a while. He's in the private living room with his brother." Percy mumbled.

"Nico has a brother?" Piper asked.

"Yeah, he's like, twenty. Just … don't mistake them for being in an incestuous relationship. They aren't." Percy said.

"Why? Are they  _that_  close?" Jason asked, mildly concerned now.

"Yeah. I don't really know why, but they are." Percy grumbled. "Heck, when we were at  _Olympus Cuisine_  a couple of days go, Apollo showed up – he's a waiter there – and started ranting and raving about Nico should've have chosen him over Thanatos. Again, they're not involved. So, eventually, Thanatos punched his lights out and also dislocated his jaw."

Jason whistled. "Wow, they  _do_  seem really close. I'm sure Apollo won't bother Neeks again."

"Yeah," Piper said dreamily. "Where are they? I wanna meet Thanatos, and see Nico again, of course."

"Sure, follow me." Percy said.

They walked through the hallways, under the staircase and entered through a set of double-doors. Finally, they reached the private living room and were greeted by the ever so cheery scene of Nico in Thanatos' lap. Percy saw Piper's jaw drop and Jason stared intently at the scene.

"He. Is. Gorgeous!" Piper whispered with delight.

"You'd think your girlfriend wouldn't eye-fuck anyone, but she's a girl. Can't change that." Jason grumbled as he crossed his arms.

Piper giggled a bit, and kissed Jason on the cheek drawing a blush from the blond. Percy cleared his throat and Nico turned his head to see who it was. Nico smiled at Piper and Jason.

"Oh, hi guys!" Nico said. "What's up?"

"Hey, Nico," Jason said, eyeing Thanatos. Immediately after that, Thanatos turned to face the group, a slight smile on his face.

"Hello," he said. "I'm Thanatos. I take it you're friends of Nico?"

"Oh, yes." Piper said, giggling a little too much. The blue-eyed boy smiled and went back to using his phone. Nico got up from Thanatos' lap, grabbed his phone and walked over to where the trio stood. Jason glared at Nico a little too hard, but didn't say much.

"So, what are you guys here for?" Nico asked.

"Oh, we're just here to hang out," Piper said.

"Oh, that's great." Nico said. Suddenly, his phone went off. He looked at the screen and frowned.

"Thanatos, did you give someone my new number? The caller ID isn't showing up on my screen, just the number." Nico asked. Thanatos turned to face Nico.

"No. I don't recall doing that." Thanatos said. He motioned for Nico to answer and the raven-haired boy did so.

"Hello?" Nico asked, as he walked out of the room.

"Huh, I wonder what that was about." Percy said.

"Yeah, me too," Thanatos said. The brown-haired boy got up and walked in the direction Nico left. Percy had to admit, he never truly understood why Nico and Thanatos were so close. It wasn't incestuous, so why was it that two brothers could be so close? It wasn't fair. Percy just wanted sex. Was that too much to ask?

"I'm surprised you haven't fucked Nico yet," Jason blurted out as soon as Thanatos was out of the room.

" _Shhh_!" Percy hissed. "Are you mad? Thanatos is worse than twenty angry Lukes! Don't talk about Nico that way. Trust me, I don't think Apollo will ever approach Nico without being killed first."

Piper chuckled. "Jason, behave."

Jason grumbled something about Nico under his breath but both Piper and Percy failed to catch. Percy decided to ignore it and went to sit down on a nearby couch.

"So, you guys want anything to eat or drink?" Percy asked.

"We're both good." Piper said as she and Jason took a seat next to Percy.

"I wonder why they're taking so long." Piper mumbled. "It's so quiet without those two."

Just then, Nico walked in with Thanatos in tow, both of them smiling.

Percy shot up. "Nico, is everything alright?"

"Oh, yeah. It was Luke. Don't worry about it though, everything's perfectly fine." Nico said, smiling as Thanatos guided them to the sofa adjacent to Percy's. They took a seat and Nico laid his head in Thanatos' lap. What was it with Nico? Why did he always do that?

"You know, Percy," Nico said, startling Percy out of his thoughts. "You often forget that you speak aloud instead of thinking. And Thanatos has a  _really_  comfortable lap. Granted, he's muscular, but I like them that way."

Thanatos rolled his eyes at Nico. "So, Jason, right?" Thanatos spoke. Jason nodded cautiously.

"How's ICDAT for you? I hear Nico here made quite the first impression the first time he arrived here." Thanatos asked.

"I did not!" Nico mumbled into Thanatos lap. The front of his face was currently in Thanatos' lap, so it sounded more like:

"Eii deeeed naaah!"

Thanatos chuckled and Percy snickered. Piper was trying with very much difficulty to lay her head in Jason's lap, but the blond refused vehemently. Piper huffed and folded her arms, pouting. Jason broke, and he put his arms around Piper, drawing her to sit in his lap.

"Well," Jason began, "He doesn't eat much, gets privileges from most teachers, a bit too much of a rule-follower and isn't dating anyone. However, some girls are trying very hard to get him."

Nico immediately picked his head up to glare at the blond who looked away and whistled innocently to himself. Thanatos chuckled as Nico turned to glare at him. This only made Thanatos laugh. Nico tried to punch him, but remembered that his brother had rock-hard abs that could break his hand if he tried hitting him with much force.

"I hate you," Nico said, rolling off of Thanatos and sitting on the seat next to his brother.

"Aw, don't be that way Neeks." Thanatos said. Nico scoffed and flicked his nose upwards – in that spoiled princess kind of way and snatched his new phone from Thanatos. The brown-haired young man chuckled a bit, not really bothered by Nico's actions. To Percy, it was clear: Nico no longer wanted to be a part of the conversation. So, Percy continued to make small talk with Piper and Jason – who was staring at Nico as if he was trying to burn Nico's face of. If Nico noticed, he didn't show it. He simply continued using his phone.

"So," Percy began. "Do we have anything important to do for school, Piper? I wasn't paying much attention." Piper rolled her eyes at Percy.

"You never do pay attention, Percy. No, nothing. Just a paper on the History of Racial Difficulties for Mr. Brunner. Ya know, history and stuff."

Percy nodded, taking out his phone and inserting it into his digital To-Do List.

"When are we supposed to hand it in?" Nico asked. Piper blinked, a bit shocked that Nico finally spoke, but answered anyway.

"Mr. Brunner said he'd let us know when. Should be a week or two from now." Piper said. Nico nodded.

"So, how've you guys been?" Nico asked, laying his head in Thanatos' lap once again. Thanatos beamed down at his younger brother.

"Am I forgiven?" The brown-haired boy asked imploringly.

"Yes, Thanatos. You're my awesome older brother that I can't live without – well, sorta anyway." Nico mumbled as he stared up at Thanatos. The older of the two smiled lovingly.

"Awwwww … you two are just  _too_  cute!" Piper squealed. Nico giggled and Thanatos chuckled. "Oh, and we've been great, Nico. Nothing much to complain about."

"That's great." Nico said. Although, not everyone was excited. Those people were Percy and Jason. Well, Percy was just jealous, however the sea-green eyed boy didn't know why Jason was irritated. For some reason, while Thanatos wasn't looking, Jason glared hatefully at the brown-haired man. Nico turned to look at Jason and immediately, Jason beamed. Nico rolled his eyes at the blond, but smiled shortly after. Something did not sit right with Percy. They were acting so strangely. As for Thanatos and Nico, they were understandable – well, sort of, Nico didn't explain why they were so close yet.

"Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to work together with us. Please? We suck at History and Annabeth said she was tired and decided to go home. So, please, Nico?" Piper asked, a slight blush tinging her cheeks.

Thanatos chuckled. "So, this is what you do, Neeks?"

Nico glared at Thanatos then turned his attention to Piper. "Sure, Pipes. I'm  _sure_  my dear brother wouldn't mind helping either. He did take History in college after all."

It was Thanatos' turn to glare, but he did it halfheartedly. Honestly, Percy needed to find out why they were so close. Honestly. What was this? A fluff crush? ( **A** / **N:**   _For you,_ Lord Nitro _!_ ) Percy hated it all. It was so unfair that Nico got almost every guy he met crushing on him. Well, Percy wasn't one of them. He just wanted the sex. And Nico's body! Like, the way Nico's hips swayed, or his voluptuousness. His pale skin or even the way his jeans complimented his ass. Seriously? What was Nico? His body looked as if he could give Percy the sex he wanted/needed. Was that too much to ask for? Well, Percy would have to think of other ways to get Nico in his bed. But … Thanatos would probably bury him and dance on his grave. Then Luke would exhume his remains, burn them and scatter his ashes to the air. All in all, he would die both ways.

"Percy?" Nico called.

"Hmm?"

"Well, what do you think?" Nico demanded.

"Of … what?" Percy asked.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Working together on our History assignment for Chiron."

"Oh, yeah, that would be great." Percy said.

"Okay, so Piper, how about next week Saturday? Unfortunately, I'm unavailable after school. I have some stuff to deal with." Nico asked.

"That's great! Jason and I will drop by around noon." Piper said. "So, for now, we'll just hang with you guys – if that's okay."

"That's no problem at all, Piper," Percy said. Percy needed to find out what was going on with Jason. He seemed to be very indifferent towards Thanatos and sometimes to Percy. "So … what do you guys wanna do?"

"Well, I've been to your house with Jason before, but I haven't seen Nico's room since he didn't live here at the time. Would it be okay if we checked your room out, Nico?" Piper asked politely.

"Yeah, sure. It's a bit disheveled since we were there when you guys arrived, but yeah, it's cool." Nico responded.

They talked for a few more minutes before deciding to visit Nico's room. They all stood abruptly and headed to the staircase. Percy fell into step with Nico and Thanatos as the trekked up the steps.

"So, how have you been adjusting to New York, Nico?" Piper asked, as they entered the main hallway.

"Well, it's nothing like Beverly Hills. I liked our mansion, but I guess New York is good too." Nico said. "I just miss the tranquility of it all. Beverly Hills was really quiet and I loved the neighbors. Especially this one family. We generally had dinner over at their house. They were awesome. Their daughter – Calypso was supposed to come and visit, being related to us and all, but she was held up. I miss her." Nico sighed fondly.

"Really, Nico? You only miss her because you two were crazier when you got together than you and I are." Thanatos said. "Honestly, I think craziness runs in our families, except Nico got it. It's always the youngest." Nico glared hatefully at his older brother. He was about to elbow him when he remembered he would probably get hurt. Through all of this, Percy remained silent. He just wasn't in the mood to talk much.

"I could say the same thing about you too sometimes, Thanatos." Nico shot back. Thanatos chuckled as he wrapped an arm around his little brother. They weren't actually walking. They stopped in front of the master bedroom to listen to the conversation and Piper couldn't stop giggling at everything each di Angelo male said.

"Okay, so we should get a move on." Percy cut in. They all nodded and continued walking towards Nico's bedroom. All the while through, Piper and Jason marveled at the new sculptures that greeted them along the path to Nico's room. The Persian rug was a new addition and Piper couldn't stop fawning over it. Percy rolled his eyes at her pointless squeals and ramblings as they continued down the minor hallway to Nico's room. They finally stopped at a set of black double-door and Nico pushed past them with Thanatos.

Piper and Jason caught their breath as they stared at the entire room. Filled with black and only black. From the canopy bed, to the curtains to the rugs and comforters, Nico clearly loved black.

"Wow, Nico … I didn't know you loved black so much!" Piper said.

"Yeah, it's my favorite color." Nico said, flopping onto his bed and releasing sigh.

"Yeah, Neeks. I didn't think you'd like black that much. I mean, sure you  _wear_  black, but not so much in your room!" Jason exclaimed, clearly very cheery and unsure about what he saw.

"It's just a color, guys. Like Percy's blue-themed room. Nothing major." The brown-eyed boy shrugged. Thanatos sat down beside Nico and the brown-eyed boy moved to rest his head in his brother's lap. Thanatos smiled warmly at his little brother and then rested on the bed. Nico sighed in content as Jason, Piper and Percy took a seat on the bed as well.

"You guys are so close," Piper began. "How come?" Nico eyed the Cherokee girl for a moment.

"That's kinda difficult to explain … perhaps another time?" Nico answered questioningly. Piper nodded at Nico and Thanatos rolled his eyes. He was about to speak but Nico cut him off with a deadly glare. Thanatos chuckled, unfazed, but said nothing further. Or he would have probably had to rue that day.

"So, any plans for tomorrow Nico?" Jason asked, out of the blue. Nico eyed him for a moment. In Percy's opinion, the way Jason looked at Nico was like a kicked puppy. As if pleading for some time with his 'master'. Percy laughed at this inwardly.

"I'm not busy, so, sure. I'll give you my new number and you can text me when you're ready or with details of where we're headed." Nico finally replied. Jason beamed at the younger boy, but Nico paid him no mind. Piper looked at them, a frown marring her features. But, she relaxed and let it go, whatever it was. In all seriousness, Percy didn't know what was happening between him and Nico. One minute, they were kissing, the next Nico was cozy with his brother – a little too cozy with his brother. And Percy didn't like it. So what if Nico wasn't dating him? It just wasn't fair that Nico wasn't as close to him as he was with other people. And who was this Calypso bitch? Percy's head was hurting from all of these names. He was getting tired, so he decided to take a midday nap.

"Guys, I'm going to take a nap," Percy said. "See ya."

"See ya, Jackson." Jason said.

"Bye Percy." Piper said. And Percy walked out of Nico's room, listening to the faint sound of Piper's voice chatting up a storm with Thanatos and Nico and Jason laughing. Percy reached his room and walked over to his bed. He plopped down on his bed and fell into an endlessly deep sleep.


	8. The Real Love Triangle

After Percy left to take a nap, Piper and Jason remained with Nico and Thanatos, chatting up a storm. Well, you would too if you had a boring day. Nico was currently sitting between Thanatos' legs on his bed and Piper continued babbling on and on about things Nico didn't really pay attention to. However, the brown-eyed boy  _did_  pay attention to Jason's cold stares and hateful glares. Not at Nico, but at his brother. However, Thanatos didn't pay attention to them. He was texting some person that Nico really didn't care about. Nico was concerned as to why, but chose not to say anything in his brother's or Piper's presence. Perhaps it had something to do with the … uh … kiss(es) they shared. Yes, they kissed on the day Nico joined Luke, Apollo and Jason for a day out. Well, it had been the same day him and Percy shared a kiss. Nico was just concerned about Piper. Lying straight to the girl's face when she could probably sense the tension between him and Jason.

"Well," Piper said. "We'd better get going."

"Uh, yeah, about that," Jason began. "I need to see … Percy about something when he gets up. It's very urgent. How about I call you when I get home?"

Piper frowned, but then she sighed. She nodded with a small smile and took off to exit the penthouse. Jason stood in the room and looked back and forth between Nico and Thanatos. The blond jerked his head toward the hallway and Nico sighed.

"Thanatos, I'll be right back." Nico said. The brown-haired boy looked up from his smartphone and nodded. Nico followed the blond out of his bedroom to the hallway.

"Is there somewhere we can … talk … away from Thanatos and Percy?" Jason asked. Nico thought for a moment.

"Yeah. Percy's study. He won't be in there because he's asleep." Nico responded. Jason nodded and followed the raven-haired boy through the hallways, down the stairs, past the living rooms and finally into Percy's study. It was a rather nice study. There was a large wooden desk in the center of the room and bookshelves lined the wall. There were large windows, so there was a lot of light filtering into the room. Immediately when Jason got in, he slammed the door shut. Nico made his way to sit on the table, but Jason yanked in his wrist and slammed his body against the door. Jason looked upon Nico with hungry and lustful eyes. He leaned down and placed a kiss on Nico's lips and moved to his jawline. Biting down harshly – harsh enough to leave a mark. Nico tried to push the blond away, but Jason was stronger than he was. The blond pinned Nico's hands above his head and immediately attacked the younger male's lips. Nico fought the urge to kiss Jason back, but Jason had his ways. The blue-eyed blond boy slid his knee between Nico's legs, causing the younger boy to gasp. Jason ceased the opportunity and slipped his tongue into the younger boy's mouth. Nico stopped kissing back and Jason drew back, confused.

"Nico?" the blond called.

"Jason, please stop. It's not fair to Piper." Nico said. Jason rolled his eyes and took hold of Nico's waist and brought their bodies together.

"What my girlfriend doesn't know won't kill her." Jason whispered seductively into Nico's ear. Nico struggled against the blond's grasp.

"Nico, please. I want you so bad. I just want to devour you and ravish you." Jason said as he placed kisses along Nico's neck. Nico shuddered against Jason's lips. Why was his life so difficult?

"Jason, no. I … I can't do this." Nico said.

"But I can." Jason said, biting down on Nico's neck. Nico moaned slightly and Jason smiled against Nico's neck.

"Come on, Nico. You know you want to." Jason taunted. "Please, Nico. Please, I … I need you."

"Jason, you have Piper. Please stop." Nico said, reaching up to touch the blond's face gently. "I can't do this to Piper." Jason threw his head back in a frustrated groan. The blond looked down at Nico, drinking in his appearance.

"Please, Nico. Just … just another kiss." Jason begged. Nico let out a sigh of defeat.

"Fine, but just one – if it'll get you stop." Nico said firmly.

Jason nodded vigorously before he leaned down, and captured Nico's pale pinks lips once again. The kiss was slow at first, but slowly increased into something more passionate. Jason's tongue slipped past Nico's lips and Jason moaned into the kiss, followed by Nico. Jason grasped Nico by the hips and picked the brown-eyed and wrapped Nico's legs around his waist. Nico held onto Jason as he pinned the brown-eyed boy against the wall. Slowly, Nico deepened the kiss and Jason carried Nico over Percy's desk and laid him down. They broke apart, breathless, and Jason pressed himself against the brown-eyed boy while he tried to unbutton Nico's shirt and again kissed him passionately despite Nico's protest. Nico mustered enough of strength to push the blond off of him. Jason gave Nico a confused look as Nico got off of the desk.

"I told you," Nico said. "Only one." Jason growled as he grabbed Nico's arm and pulled the smaller boy towards him.

"Nico, please? Please? I need you so much." Jason said, as he rested his forehead on Nico's. Nico sighed.

"You're only basing your so called 'need' on a kiss." Nico said.

"Three!" Jason whined. Nico finally got Jason to loosen his grasp, but still couldn't escape.

"Jason, no. Just  _stop_! I can't do this to Piper and I don't want to lead you on. You don't need me, so just leave me alone!" Nico said, fighting against Jason now.

"No, Nico! I know you want me, please, let me have you." Jason begged, as he tightened his grip around Nico's waist. The brown-eyed boy slammed his fists against Jason's chest, but the blond wouldn't let go.

"Jason, please. I can't do this! Now let me go!" Nico yelled, as tears rolled down his cheeks. Jason still didn't budge. He didn't want to let go of Nico. But Nico forced his way out of the blond's grasp and walked away, silently crying. Nico opened the doors of the study to find Percy and Thanatos standing there. Nico gasped and quickly wiped his tears away. Nico tried his best to put on a smile, but it failed to convince the two that nothing was wrong.

"Hi, guys." Nico said, trying his best to be cheery. Thanatos was not impressed – not at all. Not even Percy. Thanatos looked very concerned whereas Percy just looked angry.

"Well, Nico," Thanatos said, as Jason came out of the study to be glared at by Thanatos and Percy. "Care to tell your older brother what was going on in there?" Jason gulped as he stared at Nico pleadingly. Nico sighed.

"Nothing, Thanatos." Nico said, trying his best to put on a straight face.

"Really?" Thanatos asked, as he walked toward Nico and grabbed Nico's jaw roughly to examine to bite marks Jason left there and along his neck wand jawline. Unfortunately, his pale skin wasn't helping. "Because your skin begs to differ."

"Yeah," Percy said, his sea-green eyes boring into Jason's blue ones. "Do tell us what happened, Nico."

"Nico." Thanatos said firmly. "Tell. Me. What. Happened!"

Nico flinched slightly and then both Jason and Nico gulped at the same time. Nico's head was swimming with answers, ideas even, but he knew his brother would find out some way or another. In all honesty, Nico didn't want to see Jason get hurt – even if he did try to get him to be his, he didn't want to see Jason beaten to pulp. Whether, it was going to be Thanatos or Percy doing the beating, Nico didn't know. All in all, Nico was afraid of what might happen to Jason if either Percy or Thanatos found out what he actually did, Nico didn't even realize he'd been standing there, in silence staring off into space, wrapped in his thoughts, until Thanatos snapped his fingers in front of his little brother's face with a feral growl. Nico blinked, momentarily confused.

"Jason and I …" Nico said timidly.

"Yes, yes. Get to the point." Thanatos grumbled.

Nico looked at Jason's expression before saying what shocked the daylights out of everyone in the room – except for Nico, of course.

"We broke up." Nico mumbled. Then he ran across the hallways, up the stairs and into is bedroom, where his bed was waiting for him.

* * *

 

Nico locked himself in his bedroom all day, keeping even Thanatos out. Sure Nico lied to save Jason, but he didn't need to feel good about. Nico had cried his heart out, not for himself but for what he did to Piper. He didn't feel like he could face the girl or anyone else for that matter – and school was only on Monday! Nico didn't feel like he could face any of Percy and his friends. At all. The brown-eyed boy just wanted to be alone forever and ever. However, a knock at the door stopped him from wallowing in self-pity.

"Nico?" Someone called. It didn't sound like Thanatos or Percy. It was a feminine voice, so Nico assumed it was Bianca. Both his mom and Bianca were out shopping the entire day, so they must have gotten back.

"Who is it?" Nico mumbled.

"It's me, Bianca. Please open up." His sister asked. Nico sighed exasperatedly. He hopped off the bed and went to open the door. As soon as he opened it, Bianca flung the door open and barged in. To Nico's surprise, Thanatos also entered the room and closed the door behind him. Nico huffed in protest and decided to go and lay down on his bed.

"Nico." Bianca said calmly. "What happened earlier?"

Nico sighed. "I told Thanatos already. I broke up with Jason."

"But Thanatos tells me that this …  _Jason_  was already dating someone else – Piper, or someone." Bianca retorted. Nico nodded. "What the fuck, Nico?! How could you? I thought you were better than this!"

Nico flinched as Bianca yelled. Thanatos stood off to one side, staying out of the girl's way while she threw her tantrum. She went on and on about how she expected Nico to be better than this and how he needed to learn that he couldn't toy with people. Nico didn't really have the energy to deal with her, so he just sat and listen to his sister ramble and yell on and on.

"Well?" Bianca demanded after about what seemed an hour, or so, of stamping her feet and waving her hands in the air and throwing her voice all over the place like she were standing at the edge of the Victoria waterfall or something.

"Well what?" Nico asked, clearly lost in his thoughts.

"When are you going to tell Piper?" Bianca asked.

"Oh." Nico said, standing up and rubbing his arm. "I … I don't think I can do that to –"

Nico didn't get to finish.

Bianca stormed her way over to Nico, a feral growl escaping from her lips, and slapped her little brother square in the face and Nico fell onto his bed with his hand to his face. Immediately Thanatos stepped in and grabbed Bianca's hands.

"What the hell, B?!" Thanatos demanded. Bianca gasped, the hand that she slapped Nico with trembling with shock. Nico sniffled as he held his face where he got slapped.

"I … I – oh Nico, I'm so sorry!" Bianca exclaimed as she went to go check on him. The brown-eyed boy smacked her hands away.

"Don't touch me!" Nico growled. A cold smile crept across his lips. "And I'm not the bad guy here. Jason wanted a kiss, I agreed and it escalated so much so, that he wanted sex. Naturally, I disagreed."

"What?" Bianca gasped.

"The fucking hell, Nico?!" Thanatos yelled, yanking Nico by his wrist so the brown-eyed boy looked up at him. Nico snatched his hands from Thanatos' grasp and glared at his siblings hatefully.

"Yeah, well I should have agreed. Maybe I would have lived up to your accusations, Bianca dear." Nico spat distastefully. Bianca looked at Nico with absolute shock. Thanatos was trying hard to contain his anger and also trying hard to comfort Nico and tell his little brother to calm down.

"Nico," Thanatos said calmly.

"What?"

"I am sorry about what B said and if I did anything to anger you, I'm sorry." Thanatos said, as he hang his head in shame. Nico just stared at his older brother, looking at his demeanor. Nico really loved his siblings, but he didn't expect them to think so lowly of him.

"No." Nico said. "I – I shouldn't have reacted the way I did and I shouldn't have given Jason what he wanted and –"

Nico was immediately crushed in Thanatos and Bianca's embrace. The force of Thanatos and Bianca running to hug him knocked all three of them over onto Nico's bed. Bianca cried as she mumbled: "Oh, I'm so sorry, Nico. I'm so, so sorry!" and Thanatos held onto his little brother for dear life. Nico chuckled lightly.

"Oh, I just love it when we kiss and make up," Nico mumbled into Bianca's hair. It seemed to smell like she used a pomegranate-scented shampoo. Thanatos chuckled and Bianca let out a laugh.

"Oh, Nico, I will always love you." Bianca said as she placed a loving kiss on Nico's forehead. Nico smiled up at his sister and Thanatos leaned down and did the same. They all sat up Nico drew them into a group hug.

"I really love you guys even though we fight like crazy." Nico mumbled.

"And we love you too, Neeks!" Bianca and Thanatos sang.

Nico chuckled. "Okay, so can we please get of the littler guy? He doesn't wanna die."

Thanatos and Bianca busted out laughing and released the brown-eyed boy from the hug. Nico sighed in content as he rested his head on his brother's shoulder – receiving one of those smiles that girls faint over – and held Bianca's hand. The three di Angelo siblings sat there in comfortable silence for the rest of the evening – until dinner of course.

* * *

 

"So, we ended up arguing and then finally we kissed and made up. That's actually why we weren't around for the major part of the evening. We were in my room, just talking when necessary." Nico said, as he beamed at his parents and the Jacksons.

Dinner started around twenty minutes ago and they were all laughing as Nico told them the story. Well, all except Percy, that is. If anything, he looked infuriated and Nico had no idea why. Well, he was just too emotionally and mentally worn out to actually care about other people anyway. All he did care about at that specific moment was food. The food was simply divine. And Nico was loving every second of explaining their little falling out earlier Nico was glad they made up and that Jason wasn't around. Well, Nico really couldn't face anyone of Percy's friend – especially Piper for that matter. He was scared but he didn't care. He was tired of Jason's demands and he was happy that he let his siblings know – well, _only_ his siblings and Percy, of course. He would just have to tell his parents about his being gay some other time. They all enjoyed dinner in comfortable silence from there, and Nico was grateful he told someone about his situation.

Sometimes, Nico really hated his alarm clock. It began buzzing and then started chiming. Nico finally slammed his hand down on it and got up off of his bed to get ready for school. Nico grabbed a pair of black jeans and a black tee from his closet and set it out on his bed. He went back into his closet, grabbed his boxer-briefs, towel and made his way into the shower.

He turned on the water and began lathering his body with soap, cleaning up every part of his body. He really didn't like agreeing to that 'day out' with Jason. They went swimming and then they ended up kissing in his car – again. Nico really needed to end whatever it was that was going on between them. He – as he said countless times before – didn't want to hurt Piper. He hated hurting the people that were close to him. It sucked in his opinion, really. Piper was such a nice and loving person. He could just see the devastation on her face once she finds out about her boyfriend and his antics with the di Angelo she liked most – next to Thanatos, that is.

Nico sighed as the water ran down his back and he rolled his shoulder blades.

"I really need to sort my life out," he mumbled.

A couple of minutes later, Nico was done and shut the water off. He got out of the shower stall and wrapped a towel around his waist. He pondered more on his day with Jason.

They had went swimming in Jason's family mansion – where Jason could probably molest him. Nah, probably just a stupid thought, really. His mom and dad – Jason's parents – had gone out for the day and Thalia joined them. Jason picked Nico up around eleven a.m. and they drove to their private mansion. Jason smirked at him as Nico stared at the mansion.

Firstly, the property was surrounded by fairly high walls so that you couldn't really see the mansion. There was a large black gate with spiked tips and a golden lightning bolt in the center. Jason fumbled with his remote control and they drove along the gravel path. The path started from the gate – obviously – and continued until it circled a rather large fountain of a fairly large bronze eagle, sprouting water from its opened beak. Its wings were extended as if it were still flying. The rest of the fountain was a seemingly large bowl constructed from white stone that contained the water the eagle sprouted from its beak. The lawn was rather beautiful; rolling flatland of pure green grass surrounded by weeping willows and old oak trees, providing shade.

The mansion, however, was the most impressive. It was constructed of white stone and marble floors, so it looked like an ancient Greek temple – like the pillars that held up the triangular piece of stone; it even looked like a temple in honor of the gods. Jason parked his car in front of the fountain and shut it off. Today, Nico wore a pair black of skinny jeans and a gray tee. However, he did bring a pair of swimming trunks and another tee for swimming. He got out, grabbing his backpack and waited for Jason.

Nico had to give it to the blond, he looked really amazing. Not that Nico was interested, but Jason was rather hot with his muscular arms and chest. His regal facial features, close-cropped short blond hair and his beautiful blue eyes only added to his um … hotness. Okay, okay! Nico liked Jason too. And his kisses were nothing short of the best. Why did Nico sound like a whore? He groaned out aloud catching Jason's attention.

"You okay?" the blond asked, resting a strong hand on the brown-eyed boy's shoulder.

"Yeah. Just … your um, mansion is rather large." Nico lied. Jason chuckled.

"Yeah, but you get used to it." the blond mumbled. "Come on, let's go see about some swimming."

They walked up to a large set of golden double-doors. Jason dug around his pockets until he found his keys. He unlocked the door and motioned for Nico to enter.

When Nico walked in, his breath was taken away as fast as a lightning flash. It was simply beautiful. Two sets of stairs led up to the same balcony and each staircase was flanked by two vases. The ceiling rose very high and a large golden-laid chandelier hung from the center of it. Behind the staircases, a set of oak double-doors stood open, revealing an elegant dining room and behind the elegant furniture, a fireplace stood vacant. Jason chuckled at Nico's expression as he guided the shorter boy up the staircase on the right. They walked up while Jason checked some of his mail on his smartphone.

When they reached the top, Jason led Nico to a room that was rather large. It was decorated with one simple color – azure, like Jason's eyes. There was a large bed in the corner of the room. A vacant fireplace jutted out around the center of the room, and in another corner was a desk complete with a computer and a printer and also a rather comfortable-looking rotatable chair. It was Jason's room.

"So," Jason said, shuffling about. "Would you like something to drink, eat?"

"No, I'm good." Nico answered, looking at the terrace of Jason's bedroom, which was guarded by two glass doors. Nico immediately went to open them and was immediately greeted by a cool breeze and Jason's backyard. It was very large, with a miniature garden and a very large and deep pool. Nico sighed, thinking about his home back in Beverly Hills.

"So, how about some swimming?" came Jason's voice from behind him. Nico turned to meet him and nearly choked. Jason was shirtless, and he was gorgeous. He was really muscular, a set of abs and a slight 'V' formed around his waist and disappeared beneath the material of his swimming trunks. In other words, he was freaking hot. He had on a pair of blue swimming trunks and his legs were also rather muscular. Nico stuttered a bit, feeling his cheeks burn.

"Um … sure. Could you show me somewhere I could change into more comfortable clothing?" Nico asked.

"What's wrong with changing in front of me?" Jason asked as walked toward Nico, closing the space between them so quickly that they could feel each other's breath. Nico felt his cheeks burn hotter.

"I … I prefer privacy." Nico stated nonchalantly as he squirmed from Jason's grasp – well, not before the blond stole a kiss. Nico huffed as he walked into Jason's room, grabbed his backpack and headed to Jason's bathroom.

"Hurry up, Neeks!" Jason called after the raven-haired boy. Nico huffed as he slammed the door shut. He removed his jeans and tee and slipped on both his trunks and other tee. When he got out of the bathroom, he set his clothes on Jason's bed and went to join the blond on the terrace.

"You're still shirtless." Nico commented. Jason smirked.

"Well, I don't see you showing any disdain toward that." The blond retorted. Nico rolled his eyes.

"I really don't know why I agreed to this. After yesterday … things shouldn't have went as far as they did, Jason." Nico said quietly. Jason seemed stunned a bit. Then, he was anguished.

"Nico, why don't you just admit that you're into me?" the blond demanded, while he ducked his head to look at Nico. "Please, I need –"

"Don't say that, Jason." Nico said quietly. "I just … I don't wanna hurt Piper. It's unfair to her."

Jason smiled, a pained smile. "You're  _too_  kind and considerate for your own good, Neeks." The blond said as he brushed some hair away from Nico's face. Then he looked away from Nico and ahead, over the walls that hid the mansion.

"Oh, I try." Nico said, as he nudged the taller male. Jason looked at him, finally. His eyes a bit red. Nico's eyes grew wide.

"Jason, are you  _crying_?" Nico asked, shocked. Jason nodded as a tiny tear rolled down the blond's cheek. Nico really felt bad, he really did. Instantly, he reached out and brushed the blond's tear away. Jason smiled, the scar above his lip now resembling a crescent. Nico was feeling really bad for the Jason now. So, he did the only logical thing he could. He pulled the older boy into a warm, tight hug. Jason buried his nose in Nico's hair, taking in his scent. Nico was only tall enough to reach just under Jason's chin and Nico sighed inwardly as he began to release Jason from the hug.

"No." Jason whined. Nico chuckled.

"Don't you want to go swimming?" Nico asked, as he began slipping away from Jason and skipping out of the room. Jason laughed as he ran after Nico. The raven-haired boy broke into a jog as he bounded down the stairs and ran out of the mansion, onto the gravel driveway. Nico ran to the backyard, Jason hot on his heels. Eventually, he reached the pool and came to a stop, doubling over and gasping for breath. And the next thing Nico knew, he was thrown onto Jason's shoulder as the blond jumped straight into the pool, despite Nico screaming in protest.

* * *

 

Nico sat at the edge of the pool, his feet dangling in the water, a towel draped over his shoulder, his hair dripping wet as he watched Jason swim around, a smug smile on his face as Nico glared at him. The thing about water is, well, Nico hated being taken by surprise and then thrown in a pool – even if there  _was_  actually someone there to help. Jason blew Nico a kiss and the raven-haired boy scoffed and looked away, a slight blush gracing his cheeks.

While Nico wasn't looking, Jason disappeared under the water and reappeared between Nico's legs after a couple of seconds. It took all of Nico's willpower not to yelp and scramble away as Jason rested his wet, strong and … divine elbows on his legs. Nico bit down his lip lightly.

"So," Jason said, running a hand through his wet hair, "Are you enjoying today?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "I guess so, Jason. Why did I even agree to come today – even after the mayhem you caused yesterday?"

Jason moistened his lips. "Because you can't resist a hot blond such as myself." Nico rolled his eyes and smacked Jason upside the head.

"Ow!" the blond complained, rubbing the spot Nico smacked him, a slight frown marring his features. Nico chuckled slightly. Then his phone went off, and Nico reached over a couple of inches where his phone sat on a dry hand towel. Nico clicked accept and brought the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" Nico said, fully aware of Jason getting out of the water and sitting down behind Nico, drawing the raven-haired boy to sit in between his legs. Nico shot the blond a look that said  _seriously?_  But Jason shrugged and set his chin on Nico's head.

"Hi, Nico." Came a familiar voice.

"Oh, hi Percy!" Nico greeted. "What's up?"

"I was wondering where you were. I would like to spend some time with you if you don't mind." Percy said.

Nico sighed. "I would love to, but I'm kind of busy right now. How about later today?"

"Sure! Can't wait." And Percy hung up. Nico could practically feel the smirk on Jason's face.

"I knew you couldn't resist spending some time with me." Jason said. Nico rolled his eyes.

"I just wanted some time away from everyone in the penthouse." Nico said, his gaze falling to the water.

"Oh, before I forget, I'm having a friend over. I hope you don't mind." Jason said.

Nico snorted. "Jason, this is your house and I'm your  _guest_  – not your boyfriend – or anything. I'm in no position to actually say no." Jason chuckled lightly.

"Yeah, she'll be here in an hour or so. I need to take a shower." the blond said.

"Oh, could I take one as well?" Nico asked.

"Only if it's with me." Jason said playfully. Nico shot the blond an irritated look. "Okay, okay! You can use one of the guestroom showers."

Nico got up and walked away from a chuckling blond. He pulled the towel off of his shoulders and draped it over his arm, his smartphone in hand. He walked along the grovel path and entered the house. Nico made his way up the stairs to Jason's room to grab his backpack and clothes. Then, instead of waiting for the blond to show up and direct him to a guestroom, he wandered off in search of one. Nico walked down the hallway and found that there were multiple doors on either side of the hallway.

Nico opened a door at random and was instantly greeted by room that was decorated in a black and blue, with posters of rock bands and horror films. Must be Thalia's room, Nico thought. He closed the door and walked a little more until he found a room with no specific theme and dubbed it as a guestroom. The brown-eyed boy laid down his clothes on the bed, grabbed his towel from his bag and went into the shower. Luckily, Nico carried his own shower gel and other toiletries. After a good thirty-minute shower, Nico was in Jason's room, relaxing on the blond's bed while Jason slipped a purple shirt over his head.

"My friend said she'll be here shortly." Jason said, taking a seat next to Nico. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, until he doorbell rang – since when was there a doorbell? – and Jason got up to get the door. Nico joined him and together they walked to the set of double-doors.

When Jason opened the door, a very beautiful – familiar – girl stood there. Her hair was braided into a plat and fell behind her shoulders. Her skin was perfectly tanned and she had dark-brown eyes that had a cold malice to them. She was rather graceful and her posture was rather stiff – as if she were royalty. She had an impressive physique and she was dressed a tight black jumpsuit, her sleeves were rolled up and she wore a pair of black suede boots. The jumpsuit was buttoned down slightly to reveal a bit of cleavage. She was a head taller than Nico – just like she always was.

"Hi Reyna. This is –" Jason began to say but stopped when Reyna rushed forward and crushed poor Nico in a bear hug.

"Hi … Reyna …" Nico wheezed out. "Can't … breathe."

"Oh, Nico! It's been  _ages_! I only recently found out that you're attending our school." Reyna said, finally releasing Nico from her grasp. Nico was a little flustered, but he looked up at Nico with the biggest smile that his facial muscles hurt a bit.

"Yeah! I haven't seen you since our family was on vacation on Circe's Island Hotel!" Nico said happily.

"Hold up," Jason said, making a time-out sign with his hands. "You tow know each other? How?"

"Well, I met Nico when my family was on vacation on Circe's Island Hotel. We weren't really friendly to each other, but when we were alone one night because our parents went to meetings for their respective businesses, we exchanged stories, chatted about our lives and pretty much became great friends." Reyna explained.

"Yeah," Nico piped in. "We had a great time after that. And we swore to keep in contact with each other. It seemed to have slipped my mind that she moved from San Francisco to New York."

"Oh." Jason said. "Well … that's nice."

"Yes," Reyna said as she looped her arm through Nico's.

"You two … didn't date or anything, did you?" Jason asked timidly. Nico busted out laughing and Reyna cracked a smile.

"No, Jason. We're just really close." Nico said happily.

"Like you are with Thanatos?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. Something like that." Nico answered.

"Your older brother, Thanatos?" Reyna asked. Nico nodded enthusiastically.

"My family is here – at the Jacksons' Hotel." Nico said.

"Oh, that's great, Nico. Speaking of parents … did you, um,  _come out_  to them?" Reyna said cautiously. Nico suddenly found that his sneakers were very appealing.

"No, Reyna. I don't think it's the right time – with us being separated and stuff." Nico said silently. Reyna nodded in understanding.

"So, Jason. What will we be doing today?" Reyna asked.

"Well, Nico and I were swimming for a bit. I guess we could go … hmm … I don't know what we should do, really." Jason said.

"How about we go get some food or something?" Reyna suggested.

"Yeah, I guess that will do." Nico said.

"Great," Jason said. "Let me go get my car keys."

Jason bounded up the stairs as Nico leaned his head on Reyna's arm and they silently walked out of the mansion and onto the grovel driveway just behind the fountain. It was early in the afternoon – and a warm one too. Nico just relaxed against Reyna as they journeyed to Jason's Ferrari and next to his car was a gleaming silver Porsche. Probably Reyna's, Nico thought.

"So, how have you really been?" Reyna asked Nico as they leaned against the hood of Reyna's car.

"Um … I guess I've been okay. I still miss Beverly Hills, but, New York's been great so far." Nico said.

Reyna studied Nico for a while. "And what's been going on with you and Jason?"

Nico cursed under his breath silently. "Nothing." He said finally.

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "The way that blond oaf looks at you … it's as if you two are in a relationship."

Nico's cheeks flushed slightly. He looked away from Reyna, suddenly finding the fountain very interesting. Nico thought for a while, before he spoke again. Reyna knew him almost as well as Thanatos, Luke  _and_  Bianca. Lying to her would be like lying to some pair of highly-trained dogs who could  _sniff_  out lies. Nico considered this idea, slightly amused.

"We're not. Things between him and me are just complicated. Especially with Percy thrown in the mix." Nico said. "It's just that, I kinda like Percy; not Jason. Maybe if he was single, but Jason has a girlfriend and I really don't want to hurt Piper."

Reyna was silent for a while. "You're very honest, Nico. I know that you don't want to hurt Piper, so just ask Jason to stop. Trust me, if you do, he will. Just, consider remaining friends with him. He gets really …  _heartbroken._ "

Nico chuckled. "Yeah, maybe. Where is the blond devil, anyway? I'm hungry." Just as Nico finished his sentence, the blond came bounding out from the mansion, his wallet and car keys in hand. They piled into Jason's car and Reyna rode shotgun. Nico sighed as he stared out of the window, a grin creeping onto his face as soon as they stopped outside McDonald's.

However, Nico was jolted out of his thoughts of food and McDonald's when his phone went off. Nico looked at his phone. He had gotten a text from Percy.

'I'm at the car. We need to leave for school.' Percy apparently said. Nico rolled his eyes as he grabbed his stuff and bounded through the hallways, down the stairs and into the elevator, already thinking about what he and Percy had done yesterday.


	9. Murderous Intent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly … I AM SO SORRY THAT IT TOOK ME ALMOST FIVE MONTHS TO UPDATE!!!!!! It’s just that I was really busy and didn’t have time to write anything. So, thanks for the reviews guys and also thanks for your support thus far. No, I’m not discontinuing this fic – unless you guys stop reviewing, then there will be trouble. Also, don’t hate me for what’s about to happen and the dramatic turn of events that will occur from now on. Just, consider yourselves warned. Oh, and this is dedicated to Henry Uchiha. I’m sure I mentioned why in the first A/N of the previous chapter. Also, I am now on AO3. I’ll adjust my profile with the link so you can read the, ah, explicit version if you want to.

Percy watched intently as a happy head of black hair bounded out of the hotel lobby and down the stairs to his car.

“Hey, Percy.” Nico greeted a broad smile – that most likely hurt – on his face.

“Morning Nico. I take it you’re ready for another week of school?” Percy asked, sporting a little smile of his own. Nico nodded vigorously. Percy smiled awkwardly as he got into the car. Then, the sea-green eyed young man ran around to the driver’s side and got in. Percy slammed the door shut and turned the car on. Shooting a small smile at Nico, Percy pulled out of the parking space Leo had acquired for them and drove into the street.

“So, when will your family be leaving?” Percy asked as he made a left for a wide street.

“Um, in a week or so. I won’t be too happy about Thanatos and Bianca leaving, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.” The raven-haired younger boy answered.

“And I’m not good enough company for you?” Percy asked, unable to help himself. The funny thing, was that Percy was so desperate for Nico’s attention that he literally couldn’t help but be jealous of all of the younger boy’s relationships. Yeah it was weird, but Percy didn’t give a fuck about what people thought. Percy got what he wanted and if he couldn’t, then he would make sure no one else could have it. Nico quirked a brow at Percy.

“Um, you are good company. Although, I’ve grown up with Thanatos and Bianca all my life so … obviously I’d prefer them over you. I mean, I’ve only known you for a month.” Nico answered, leaning more towards his window.

“Oh,” Percy said. “Yeah, I – I guess so.” _Damn_ , Percy thought. _How could have I been so stupid?_ “Anyway, um, are you going to your sister’s concert tonight? It’s at Jupiter’s VIP Club –”

“Yeah, I heard about it. Of course I’m going.” Nico said, smiling fondly. “You wanna come with?”

Percy considered it for a second. Before the concert he had a very important ‘errand’ to run, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t do both – one after the other, that is. “Sure,” Percy said, a small grin tugging on his lips.

“Great!” Nico said, pulling out his phone and dialing a number. “I’ll just call Thanatos and let him know that we have another person joining us.”

Percy rolled his eyes and let out a frustrated grunt. He didn’t think of Thanatos. He’d have to work up some distraction so that only Percy and Nico would be alone with each other when his ‘errand’ came through.

“Hey, Thanatos.” Nico greeted. “Um, so, Percy will also be joining us tonight – for B’s concert thingy, oh, and can we go a little early? I wanna go clubbing a bit. I haven’t been on the dance floor in ages.”

Nico paused for what seemed like the longest time. He looked over at Percy and grinned a bit. He listened to his older brother for a further thirty seconds or so and ended the call.

“Okay, so it’s all good. We’re gonna leave around seven p.m. tonight. The concert starts at nine. So, we’ll have some time to dance to the music.” Nico said, a tiny blush gracing his cheeks. Percy smiled. He also wanted to get out a bit, enjoy the evening. So what if it was Monday? He wanted to dance all through the night with Nico in his arms. Sure he had to push his errand back a bit earlier, but it would be worth it.

“Say, who else is joining us tonight?” Percy asked as he made a right onto a narrow lane.

“Well … Piper, Jason, Annabeth and Reyna.” Nico said. “They also listen to my sister’s music and are major fans of hers and me.”

 _Fuck!_ Percy thought. The sea-green eyed young boy cleared his throat and gave a slight nod.

Finally, they reached school. As usual, there was the media crowd and whatnot. Percy turned into the student parking, found a parking spot and shut off his car. They weren’t even out of the car, when Jason came bounding in their direction from his Ferrari.

“Hey, Neeks.” He greeted. “Oh, hey Percy. What’s up?”

“Hey, Jason.” Percy said cautiously. He watched tentatively as Jason slid his arms around Nico’s shoulders. Nico took notice and rolled his arms.

“Arms off, Grace.” Nico said. Jason pouted but he removed his arm from Nico’s shoulders.

“You sit in your brother’s lap; he has his hands on you all the time and you don’t even say anything.” Jason grumbled. 

“Well, he is my _brother_. With you, it’s not the same.” Nico said. Jason pouted again and held up his hands in surrender. The brown-eyed boy chuckled slightly as they began walking.

“Where’s Luke?” Percy asked, praying silently to whoever may be listening that Luke was not in school for some reason or the other.  

“Oh, he’s on a short vacation with his family.” Nico said, texting someone as he walked. “He’ll be back in a couple of days.”

 _One problem taken care of already._ Percy thought triumphantly.

“He must be enjoying it, then.” Percy said halfheartedly. Nico nodded and smiled a small smile as the entered he Admin building.

Nico sighed. “It feels like ages since I’ve been in school.” The brown-eyed boy said fondly. Percy chuckled. _And tonight you’re going clubbing,_ Percy thought. They reached Jason’s locker.

“So,” the blond said as he pulled out some of his notebooks and textbooks.

“So?” Nico repeated as Percy slung an arm across the brown-eyed boy’s shoulder. Nico eyed Percy for a moment before he spoke again, shaking off Percy’s arm.

“When are you available again?” Jason asked as he shut his locker.

Nico blushed a bit. “Um, not any time soon.”

“Oh.” Jason said in a small voice. He frowned slightly and his demeanor saddened exponentially. However, when a pair of arms flung around his torso, he put a smile on – fake, no doubt.

“Hey, Pipes.” Jason said, as he leaned down slightly and sealed their lips.

Nico rolled his eyes as he walked on and pocketed his phone. Percy jogged to catch up with the brown-eyed boy.

“Hey, Neeks. Wait up.” Percy called. Luckily, Nico came to a stop but only because of the person in front of him.

“Hi, Reyna!” Nico said, as he hugged the taller girl. Today, her hair was left untied, cascading down her left shoulder. She wore a white cropped top and a pair of jeans that came up, just above her waist. Reyna released Nico from her hold.

“Hi, Nico. How are you doing?” she asked as she unlocked her locker and dumped a whole bunch of books into it.

“I’m good. Nothing to complain about.” Nico answered happily.

“Really?” she asked, quirking a brow.

“Uh-huh.” Nico said – in a way that Percy found extremely cute.

“Right. You keep telling yourself that. With Jason behaving like some lovesick puppy and you barely resisting his advances, I’m sure you’d be a whole lot less than good.” Reyna said, as she shut her locker and locked it.

Nico blushed furiously. “Uh …”

“Don’t you ‘uh …’ me.” Reyna snapped. “You better tell that idiot to back off before I seriously injure him.”

“What’s she talking about, Nico?” Percy asked.

“Nothing.” Nico said, trying to be nonchalant. Both Percy and Reyna quirked a brow at the brown-eyed boy. Clearly, something happened between Jason and Nico, but Nico didn’t want to say anything.

“Anyway,” Reyna said, “What do you have first period, Nico?”

“Um, Advanced Drawing.” Nico said tentatively.

“Well, you’d better leave for class.” The dark-haired girl said. Nico nodded curtly and took off in the general direction of Advanced Drawing class with Mrs. Muse.

 

* * *

  

Nico slumped lazily in his seat. Dr. Boring really _was_ boring. It was the last period, but Nico still felt as if he was going to die. He seriously didn’t care about killing a mockingbird – no matter how innocent they were. He really didn’t care whether the elusive Boo Radley saved the Finch siblings, or the fact that it was narrated from the perspective of a young girl. Quite frankly, Nico didn’t care much for the literature that was thoroughly examined during English class. Yes, it helped his grades in school, but Nico had other concerns such as: his sister’s performance tonight and also the clubbing he’d be doing before that. Yeah, Nico thought of other things during class, but who didn’t?

“So, do you think that Ms. Mayella is guilty at all?” Dr. Boring asked the class.

Annabeth was the first to answer. “It’s hard to say, sir.”

“Oh?” Dr. Boring said, raising a brow. “And why is that?”

“Firstly, she tries desperately to be clean and also be different from her family. She always worked hard to be different from her family and also sought after attention. However, she tried to get attention from Tom by seducing him. Everyone knows that her family is one of outcasts and known as ‘white trash’ or even the ‘rednecks’ of their county. We also know, from the text, that her father convinced her to lie in court. And even though Tom was innocent before he was brutally murdered, I think that Mayella bares a lesser guilt compared to her father.” Annabeth let out a breath.

Dr. Boring gave a slight nod of apprehension. “Very good, Ms. Chase. Next question –”

Fortunately, the bell rang.

Everyone filed out of the room almost immediately. Nico chuckled as a one of the Stoll twins ran out of the door and into a locker – literally – toppling backwards from the force he put into his little sprint. Nico chuckled as he walked up to his locker and unlocked it. He put some of his books in and grabbed the day’s homework. Nothing really important; Calculus and Art. So, Nico could actually go out clubbing. Speaking of clubbing … Nico reached for his phone. However, he stopped as soon as a muscular and evenly tanned hand shut his locker for him. Nico looked up to find a pair of vividly electric blue eyes staring down at him.

“Hey.” Nico said as he pocketed his phone.

“Hey yourself,” Jason responded. “So, we still on for tonight?”

“Um, yeah.” Nico said.

“Awesome. Can’t wait to hit that dance floor.” Jason said as he leaned against the locker, folding his arms.

Today, the blond wore a simple greyish cotton shirt that hugged his upper body and abdomen tightly. He rolled the sleeves up slightly so that they stopped short of his elbows, expertly camouflaging the (ah, muscular) joints. He also wore a casual blue jeans and a pair of black training shoes.

“Yeah.” Nico said, as he unlocked his locker once more and throwing in his History textbook and workbook. He shut his locker and decided to go outside before his ride left him. Without a word to Jason, he walked off into the crowd, leaving a very confused blond behind.

Nico was shoved around and bumped into a lot, but he really didn’t care. He just wanted to get out of the school building. Finally, he stumbled out of the oaken double-doors and onto the school steps. Nico bounded down the steps and scurried over to student parking where Percy was waiting for him.

“Hey there, Neeks.” Percy said, sporting a smile. Nico smiled back before he answered.

“Hi Percy,” Nico said as he opened the passenger seat door. “I am so _psyched_ for tonight.”

“Uh-huh.” Percy said as he got into the car and started it. Percy pulled out of his parking space and entered the lane. “I guess I am as well for today.”

Nico was silent for what seemed to be a long while. The brown-eyed boy watched the low-rise buildings change into the city skyscrapers and office buildings. The street lanes grew wider and the traffic seemed to choke the roads.

“So, what was Reyna talking about in school earlier today?” Percy asked, almost making Nico jump up and hit his head on the car’s windshield.

“Um … nothing, really.” Nico said tentatively. Percy looked at the younger boy as if he’d grown a second head. “Don’t worry about it, Percy. It doesn’t concern you, so, you needn’t worry about it.”

“Harsh.” Percy said after a moment or so. “Besides, the thing that happened, well, I’m assuming something happened, with Jason on Saturday _and_ Sunday … it kinda got me worried.”

Nico was silent for a moment or two. “Oh, well, it’s nothing serious. It’ll be okay.” Nico lied. Percy quirked a brow at the younger boy, making Nico blush slightly, but he said nothing further. Finally, they reached the hotel and Percy found Leo waiting there for him.

“ _Hola_ , Percy, Nico!” The Latino said cheerily.

“Hey, Leo.” Nico said as he got out of Percy’s car.

“Hi, Leo.” Percy greeted. “Take care of her for me, will ya? We’re gonna be going out tonight.”

“Sure thing,” Leo said as he got into the car and drove off to secure a private parking space for a certain sea-green eyed boy. The pale and tanned duo walked to the rotating doors and strolled across the lobby. Nico walked up to elevator when Percy got lost in conversation with the receptionist – Nyssa, was it? Nico pressed the call button for the elevator and waited patiently for it to arrive. The elevator finally arrived and dinged open. Nico hurried inside and waited for Percy to catch. Fortunately, the brown-eyed boy didn’t need to wait long. Percy came running into the elevator moments after Nico entered it. Percy quickly thumbed the penthouse suite button and the elevator doors closed with yet another ding.

“So, I can’t wait for tonight.” Percy said, smiling brightly at the younger male.

“Yep,” Nico said. Then his phone went off. Nico pulled it out of his pocket and read the screen. Nico grinned at the name on the screen. The brown-eyed boy accepted the call.

“Hi, Nico!” the girl’s cheery voice came from the other side.

“Hi, Calypso! It’s been _ages_! How’ve you been?” Nico asked, absolutely excited to hear from one of his best friends after such a long time. Was it Nico’s imagination or did Percy mumble _Fuck!_ Under his breath?

“I’ve been great. I’m sure you have been too. When are you getting back to the Jackson penthouse?” the blonde asked.

Nico frowned. “Um, Percy and I are riding the elevator up now. Why –?”

“Great!” she said. “See you soon!”

The call ended. Nico frowned as the elevator dinged open once more. Thanatos was waiting for them already.

“Hey, Thanatos!” Nico greeted as he ran into his brother’s (very) muscular arms. Nico took in his older brother’s scent. He always smelled like peppermint.

“Hey there, Nico.” Thanatos said warmly. He released from the hug. Today, the oldest di Angelo male wore a very tight fitting black tee, a pair of black jeans and some black sneakers. “You ready for tonight?”

“Yeah. I just need to do some homework, grab a snack, a shower, a change of clothes and I’ll be ready.” Nico said.

“Well,” came a rich and beautiful voice from behind the trio. “You’re gonna need more time because I think you’d like to spend time with me too.”

Nico knew that voice. And when he turned around, there she was. Calypso was standing there. A regal look on her face. Her honey-blonde hair was curled into spirals tightly and a beautiful white Greek-style toga that fell short of her knees wrapped around her voluptuous figure. A large golden belt studded with diamonds wrapped around her waist and her skin literally glowed. She wore a pair of golden strapped sandals that reached her knees.

“Hello, Nico.” The blonde said, breaking into a smile, revealing perfectly white teeth.

“Calypso!” Nico said, as he raced up to the girl and was wrapped in a hug. “How are you?”

“I’m quite all right,” she said, chuckling lightly.

“Yeah. She said not to tell you she’d be here for B tonight.” Thanatos said, as he walked up to them. Nico rolled his eyes and swatted his brother’s arm. The taller di Angelo hissed. A total drama queen, Nico thought.

“Anyway,” Nico said as he walked over to Percy. “This is Percy Jackson. You know, Poseidon and Sally’s son.”

“Ah, yes.” Calypso said as Percy kissed her knuckles, drawing a slight blush from the blonde. “So you’re the famous Percy I’ve been hearing about.”

“The one and only.” Percy said halfheartedly. It seemed as if Percy was irritated. His face gave the expression that made it seem like the ‘something-he-planned-was-falling-apart’ kind of irritated. “Anyway, I have to go do some stuff. See ya later tonight, guys.”

As Percy padded off, Nico was drowned in a clamor of questions by Calypso. Just another normal reunion.

 

* * *

 

 

Nico couldn’t decide between the leather jacket and the black hoody with a skull embroidered on it. So far, he had on one of his tightest pair of black skinny jeans, a tight black tee and a pair of black sneakers that reached his ankles. Finally, after much inner turmoil, he chose the leather jacket. Nico slipped it on, popped the collar and rolled the sleeves up so they stopped short of his elbows. Nico walked up to his vanity mirror and stared at his reflection for a while. He looked good. And that was probably a good thing.

While Nico stared at his reflection, Thanatos came in.

“Hey, Nico.” The oldest di Angelo sibling said. For tonight, he wore a stylishly faded pair of blue jeans and a tight greyish-blackish casual shirt. He rolled the sleeves of the shirt so they stopped short of his elbows. The shirt hugged Thanatos’ entire upper body really tightly, showing off his muscles that rippled every time he moved.

“Oh, hi Thanatos.” Nico said as he grabbed his smartphone. He thought of texting Percy when he remembered that the sea-green eyed youth had left an hour or so ago to run an errand. He told Nico that he would meet them at the club.

“Ready to go?” Thanatos asked as he held out an arm for Nico to loop through.

“Yeah.” Nico said, as they walked out of his room – both arm in arm.

 

* * *

 

Percy checked the time. Six p.m. It was a great time, really. He had an hour to run his little errand to get Nico to be his – well, more or less his, really. A large two-piece vermillion shaded curtain hung from the ceiling and draped the stage. Percy ducked his head as a couple of men walked by, setting up the stage for Bianca’s performance later. As soon as they left, Percy headed backstage. He made sure that he had all the equipment he needed for the task he had to carry out. Now all he needed was some rope and perhaps a place for the corpse. Well, it – _she_ – was still a body, really. Percy wandered around the dimly lit backstage. Percy finally reached a white door that had the picture of a huge star hanging from it. Little lights glowed around the general shape of the star. They seemed to shine the color pink. Percy smirked as got out all of the necessary equipment. Percy opened the door ever so slowly and was greeted by the voice of Bianca harmonizing and vocalizing.

“Oh, Nico.” Percy said. “You will be mine so soon. I can just feel it.”

Percy barged in, the girl’s screaming silenced by a gag.

 

* * *

   

Nico and Thanatos were sitting with each other in the private living-room of the Jackson penthouse. Nico lay sprawled against his older brother’s body – which was rather difficult considering his choice of skinny jeans – and let out a sigh. It was around six thirty p.m. and Nico was rather bored.

“Hey, Thanatos?” Nico called.

Thanatos put his phone down and offered Nico a smile. “What’s up, Neeks?”

“What did you mean when you said that you were kinda taken the day Rachel tried to seduce you?”

Thanatos coughed as a slight blush rushed to his cheeks.

“Well, it’s kinda complicated.” Thanatos said.

“Really?” Nico asked. Thanatos nodded nervously as he leaned back a bit, afraid of Nico’s tone and also the way he was changing his seating position. Nico was now sitting such that he was practically straddling his older brother. Nico placed his hands on Thanatos’ muscular, broad shoulders and leaned down to his ear.

“That’s so not believable, Thanatos.” Nico whispered a little seductively. Nico closed the space between himself and his brother so that they were now looking as if Thanatos was about to fuck Nico upwards or Nico was about to ride his brother. Either way, the, ah, ‘ _sexual_ tension’ was so thick, that it could most probably be cut with a knife. Neither Thanatos had no shame in what they were doing, really. But Nico pushed it more than Thanatos did.

“Tell me.” Nico whispered again – even more seductively – running his fingers along the older male’s muscular chest.

Thanatos let out a breath. It was warm on Nico’s cheek and smelled strangely minty.

“I’m interested in someone, okay?” Thanatos admitted as he ran a hand through his hair. Nico leaned back.

“What??? That’s awesome, Thanatos! Who’s the lucky girl? Is it Calypso? Is it that person you’ve been texting ever since you’ve got here?” Nico questioned.

Thanatos blushed. “No and no. I’ll tell you when I’m ready.”

Nico rolled his eyes and got off of his brother. He let out a sight and returned to his previous position.

“We need to leave if we wanna get to Jupiter’s soon.” Nico said finally.

“We can leave now, if you want.” Thanatos said with a smile.

“Yeah, no problem.” Nico answered.

They got off the couch and began walking to the exit. Nico thumbed the call button. They waited for a couple of seconds before the elevator finally arrived and dinged open. Nico walked in and requested the lobby. The doors closed with a ding and Nico let a sigh escape his lips. He got bored eventually so he leaned against the opposite end of the elevator – away from his older brother. Thanatos noticed this and immediately took the opportunity to take Nico into his arms. It was funny … Thanatos always knew what to do when Nico was out of it. It cheered Nico up so he hugged back.

“What’s up with you, Neeks?” Thanatos asked as he let go, still ensuring his arm was around Nico’s waist.

Nico sighed lazily. “I … you know what, never mind. I’ll tell you when we get back, okay?”

Thanatos smiled a soft, knowing smile. The elevator finally dinged opened to reveal the lobby. It was extremely busy; bustling with customers, luggage being moved by the hotel workers, housekeeping running around making last-minute changes. The floors had been polished and waxed. The candles on the chandeliers were replace and lit. The stations of the receptionists were cleaned and freshly waxed. A whole lot of the press and media was outside the elevator. Flashes went off and the crowd screamed in anticipation.

The crowd roared as Nico and Thanatos walked out of the lobby and onto the hotel steps. The street was closed off from both sides since, for some reason, the di Angelos going out to a party or a club was a big thing. There was no one allowed on the steps leading up to the revolving doors of the hotel unless they actually stayed at the hotel. Security guards were stationed on the steps and up until the limousine that they were going to use. The others were going to use their own cars and well, Thanatos was rather prone to slamming into anyone who got too close to the car he was driving if Nico or Bianca was in it.

Once the di Angelo males made their way to the limousine, their driver came up to greet them and open the door for them.  Nico got in followed by his older brother and the driver sped off to the club.

 

* * *

 

 

The entrance of the club was noted to be rather classy. A red carpet was rolled up and wound its way to the entrance. A fluorescent sign was mounted above the doors that led into the building. The sign read “Jupiter’s VIP Club”. The doors were glasslike and Nico enjoyed what he could see from the limousine. He got out of the limousine to be greeted by the roars and screams of adoring fans and also the press. They were practically everywhere. _Seriously_ , Nico thought. _How were they getting their information?_ Thanatos got out of the limousine and waved as he began walking up to the entrance with Nico in tow. Security guards, here as well, ensured their safety. They did the same they did at school. They separated the crowd into two groups and kept the people who were a little too excited to see them in check.

Thanatos and Nico finally reached the entrance and a man attired in a black leather jacket and ripped jeans opened the door for them. He was rather well built and looked really tough with his chiseled features. Nico smiled at him and he smiled back. Nico looked at his nametag. It was little rectangular strip of metal. Bronze, perhaps? The name ‘Beckendorf’ was etched into it.

When Nico entered the club, he had his breath stolen. It was almost a big a space as the entrance to the Jackson penthouse. Lights of various different colors flashed wildly as smoke billowed around the place from the desk jockey’s platform. He looked really into what he was doing/. His platform was right in the middle of the room. To the far right of the room, a large bar with a large counter was present. There were multiple workers there, all dressed in formal white shirts and black waistcoats. In the middle was a large dance floor that was pulsating with various shades of white and black. There were multiple people already there, dancing to the rhythmic music.

Around the rest of the room, there were other platforms to dance on, none of which were elevated. The club was not filled to maximum capacity there was still a lot of people there. The walls were mostly painted with black and neon colors were painted over the black coat so it had a pretty amazing effect in the dark and when the other streams of light flashed onto it.

To the left of the club were some tables and chairs where people could just relax after dancing and whatnot. There were some familiar faces seated. Reyna, Piper, Jason, Annabeth and Percy.

Further left, a rather large stage was being prepared for Bianca’s performance. A huge two-piece set red curtain was draped over the stage, covering backstage. Some men were reinstalling pieces of granite to the floor of the stage and a whole group of other men were setting up the stage and lighting. It seemed as if they were aiming for a winter-wonderland theme. One part of the stage was draped with white flecks that looked like feathers. Nico shrugged and quickly opted for getting a martini from the bar before speaking to Thanatos.

“Hey, let’s go join the group, Thanatos?” Nico asked – well, yelled really.

The brown-haired male nodded and the sibling duo made their way over to the group. They laid sprawled out on their chairs. They looked quite bored.

Piper wore a white button down shirt that she gathered and tied up in a knot just below her upper chest, showing of her navel piercing. She ensured to show a lot of cleavage. She wore really tight black leggings and black, suede stilettos. She had a really good sense of style. Her hair was drawn into a high ponytail and she barely had any makeup on.

Annabeth was quite different. Her blonde hair was drawn into a higher ponytail and her hair seemed thicker. It was set so well, that she looked like she was going for an Ariana Grande kind of look. She wore a gray, baggy cotton top that stopped short a few centimeters of her knees. She wore a pair of fishnet tights and a pair of black anklet boots.

Percy and Jason however, didn’t dress up as much. They went for something more casual. Percy had on a navy blue casual shirt that hugged his frame _very_ tightly. He had on a pair of loose black jeans and a pair of casual sneakers. Jason wore a tight pair of faded blue jeans and a really good-looking dull azure-shaded tee.

Nico greeted them all and they responded quite lively. Some rock music was playing loudly and almost everyone was dancing to the beat. Their little group just remained there for a couple of minutes, really. No one bothered to actually get up and dance. That was only until one of Nico’s favorite songs began to play. It was Selena Gomez’s _Slow Down_ and Nico immediately began dancing on the spot. He was about to turn to Thanatos to ask him to dance but he was nowhere to be seen. So, Nico turned to the group and eyed them curiously before he shouted:

“Let’s dance?”

Piper and Annabeth shot up immediately, wove their arms on either side of Nico and the trio headed up to the main dance floor that was pulsating. There was a set of metal stairs that led up to the dance floor and as soon as they hit the dance floor, they couldn’t stop. The trio was immediately shoved into the center where a makeshift circle formed around them and they were encouraged to dance to the beat – which really good thus far. Nico immediately took the initiative and began popping his hips to the beat. He started moving his shoulders around, ensuring they were in-sync, snapping his fingers, with his hips and then began moving his feet; kicking them up a bit, spinning around on foot and just enjoying himself.

Piper and Annabeth, however, moved their bodies more seductively, ensuring to move their voluptuous bodies to the beat and whacking their hair back and forth. Piper held her hands just above her head and spun her body seductively whereas Annabeth made sure to roll her hips and make sure that it looked as if she was twerking, but in super slow motion – which caught the attention of a lot of guys.

Nico snapped his fingers and ensured to sway his hips more speedily so that his butt moved as if it had a mind of its own. He placed one hand on his hip and spun his other in the air – as if signaling a butler – and rolled his stomach forward. Then, he got rid of his jacket as if he were a professional stripper and threw it to someone from the crowd. He lowered his entire body on one leg like a graceful ballerina, ensuring that his butt stuck out, probably getting a lot of attention from wandering eyes. He then shot up, standing straight, and starting moving his body to the music faster, moving all of the right parts of his body to get some random guy to grab from behind and hold on to him from behind and move with his body.

He smelled faintly of cinnamon – the guy from behind – and seemed fairly muscular. Nico could make out vivid grass-green eyes, a splay of light freckles, close-cropped, curly brown hair and he wore a tight-fighting green shirt that showed off his muscular abdomen. He had pink lips that were rather desirable and a shining smile. Hmm … I wonder who he is, Nico thought.

Nico spun around to drink in the other male’s appearance and also to hold onto him probably. Anyone could have sworn Nico was drunk since he couldn’t stop giggling.

“Hi!” he said over the music.

“HI! I’m Nico. And you are?” Nico asked, as the other guy spun him around and held him in his arms once more.

“I’m Alabaster.” He said. Nico grinned. Nico leaned back so that Alabaster was pressed up against Nico butt – which Nico got quite a _large_ , _throbbing_ response to. Nico giggled.

The next thing Nico knew was that he was being yanked away from Alabaster and Thanatos stood in front of him.

“What do you think you were doing, Neeks?” he said angrily. Nico giggled as he reached up a brushed his lips against Thanatos’ for a second or two. Thanatos smiled and they began dancing to the music together. He generally didn’t give into Nico’s antics that easily, but maybe Thanatos felt sorry for him this time. Something was playing but Nico didn’t know exactly what. Sounded like something Nico never hear of. And he’d rather have his brother dance with him while he was drunk than anyone else.

“I need to go get a drink!” Thanatos yelled over the music. “Should I get someone to dance with you?”

Nico didn’t know who so he yelled the first thing that came to mind: “Percy!”

Within minutes, Percy’s arms were woven around Nico’s thin waist tightly and Percy couldn’t let go of him. Nico moved his butt around and made sure to get his butt pressed up against Percy junk – which responded within a matter of seconds. Nico giggled and turned around so that he could face the raven-haired young man.

“Hey you,” he said over the music.

Nico smiled as he wove his arms around Percy’s neck and held onto him as he worked his body. Nico was sure this would be in the tabloids in the next few hours. He sighed as a slow song came on it sounded like _Take Me to Church_ – which was weird considering they were in a club but since the basic idea of the song was about fucking … no one really gave a shit. They just got touchy with their dance partners and these parts that were being touched were sometimes visible so Nico decided to focus on Percy’s intense sea-green eyes, his smile, his hair and beautiful face. Nico felt like dancing even more, really. But Percy’s eyes were intense. They were hard to look away from in the low lighting and Nico wanted nothing more than to kiss the sea-green eyed boy senseless but he decided to contain himself. Besides, his sister would be going on soon.

Speaking of which – he hadn’t seen much. Nico was slightly worried since she always made an appearance before she performed but right now Nico was a little too tipsy to really remember or to care hard enough. Suddenly, the music dimmed and the host came up onstage. There was a lot of yelling and shouting and Nico really didn’t pay attention to anything he was saying until the host said:

“And now, Bianca di Angelo will grace us with her performance!”

Nico turned around to face the stage, eagerly wanting to view his sister’s performance. The curtains drew back, the stage was set and it looked like a beautiful winter wonderland! There was snow, a frozen a lake and so much more. Basically, it was to commemorate the main theme of Bianca’s album. Then, the audience began gasping and pointing to something – or someone – that was hanging from a suspended by their neck. It looked like a girl – a very familiar girl. Blood was gushing from a gash across her pale neck, her sparkling white dress was laced in blood, dripping from her fingers and toes. She was barefoot. The blood pooled on the stage which was about twenty feet or so from the hanging girl. She looked so familiar to Nico – her pale features, dark hair …

Suddenly, realization hit Nico like a truck and he gasped out her name: “Bianca.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, comment. Yes?

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Leave some feedback!


End file.
